Director: Roberto Rossellini
Screenplay: Sergio Amidei and Federico Fellini
Starring: Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero
Running Time: 105 minutes
Genre: Drama, war
Nazi-occupied Rome, 1944: Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi (Pagliero) is being hunted by the Gestapo. With the aid of Pina (Magnani), the fiancee of a fellow Resistance member, and Don Pietro (Fabrizi) a priest who aids the local Resistance groups, Manfredi struggles to evade the Nazis and the Italian Fascists.
This was filmed in the months immediately following the end of the Second World War, with scenes shot documentary-style on the still ruined streets of Rome mixed with more conventional studio-set scenes, and many of the cast being non-professional actors, alongside established stars Anna Magnini and Aldo Fabrizi. This was the film that brought the movement known as Italian Neorealism to international attention. While doubtless not as shocking today as it would have been to viewers of the time, it still has shockingly brutal moments, and still packs a real punch. It features great performances, particularly Magnani and Fabrizi, who at the time were known as comic actors, and here playing against type in serious dramatic parts.
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