Roma, cittą aperta (Open City) poster & wallpaper

Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero

A fictionalized account of the resistance movement in Rome during World War II.

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91% liked it

4,433 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Roberto Rossellini

Release Date: February 25, 1946

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DVD Release Date: October 15, 1997

Stats: 211 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (211)

  • flixsterman
    October 11, 2009
    flixsterman
    Has to be one of the first post-war films to come out of Italy after WWII. In 1945 the Italians had every right to be anti-German, yet this film is less about that than it is an homage to the men, women and children who fought against occupation in the underground resistance mov...( read more)ement. A fantastic film.
  • daghka
    November 24, 2009
    daghka
    Fantastic film, its utter rawness leaves so much to the thoughts and though it feels a little heavy-handed and dare I say propaganda, it was one hell of a post wwII counter agit-prop of the previous era.
  • catbox9
    November 13, 2009
    catbox9
    Roberto Rossellini's film Rome, Open City (Italian: Roma, cittą aperta) depicts the German occupation of Rome during World War II. In the film there is a priest who helps the Italian resistance.

    This film is one of the early examples of an Italian neorealism film. While current ...( read more)scholars tend to consider this film more melodramatic than neo-realist. Despite this, it has many of the notable characteristics of Italian neorealism - the film focuses on ordinary people; it has a loose, episodic story structure; the camera style is simple; there is an emphasis on emotions rather than abstract ideals; etc. While I suppose this is a decent example on neorealism, I was rather disappointed in this film. The only other neo-realist film I've seen is Bicycle Thieves, an outstanding film, and I was hoping this film would be of similar quality. While I suppose it did a good job at what it was trying to do, I just didn't care about the story at all. The only thing I liked about the film was a stretch of a minute or two which led to the iconic shot of one of the main characters being shot.

    I should comment that the current DVD releases of this film are terrible and this could have contributed to my poor opinion of the film. There were large portions of dialogue in Italian and German with no subtitles making the film quite difficult to follow. Criterion is working on a release of the film which would almost certainly do a better job with subtitles. Perhaps the film is worth a rewatch at some point.
    40/100
    F
  • Phonex
    November 13, 2009
    Phonex
    one of the greatests of Neo Realism.
  • cherrishy
    November 8, 2009
    cherrishy
    A masterpiece of Neorealism.

    People moves to tears even today for this great choral story in the beautiful and terrible scenery of Rome in last days of II World War.

    Aldo Fabrizi and Anna Magnani gave a fantastic perfomance, human and vivid.
  • ElCochran90
    October 17, 2009
    ElCochran90
    "I am a Catholic priest. I believe that those who fight for justice and truth walk in the path of God and the paths of God are infinite."

    ROMA, CITTĄ APERTA (1945)


    Director: Roberto Rossellini
    Country: Italy
    Genre: Drama...( read more) / War
    Length: 100 minutes

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    The neorealist Italian cinema has been one of the most inspiring, powerful and brutally honest artistic movements that have ever been orchestrated in cinema history. While an economically and socially destroyed world caused by one of the greatest wars in the history of humanity was searching for hope and a new start, Roma, Cittą Aperta was released in Italian movie theatres in September once that World War II had ended. It was precisely with the masterwork Roma, Cittą Aperta that the Italian neorealism achieved to acquire world fame as a revolutionary protest movement towards the crude reality people constantly lived in. Despite the fact that the film didn't quite possess absolutely all of the elements that characterized neorealism, the way the common Italian citizen, who constantly struggled for survival under the German occupation in Rome, was affected by the horrors of war is explicitly shown. In my honest opinion, this is one of the best films of all time, and both the performances and filmmaking quality should not be underestimated considering the tragic economical condition which was already present in most parts of the world by those days. That is why I think Roma, Cittą Aperta does not get the full credit and appreciation it really deserves. It is frequently considered as an irrelevant feature-film that, although significantly influenced the Italian neorealism, did not achieve to stand out so grandiosely in a similar way like the films of the biggest filmmakers of neorealism such as Federico Fellini (La Strada [1954], Le Notti di Cabiria [1957]), Vittorio de Sica (Ladri di Biciclette [1948], Umberto D. [1952]) and Luchino Visconti (La Terra Trema: Episodio del Mare [1948]) did.

    The story is extraordinary and well developed. During the German occupation in Rome in the year of 1944, Giorgio Manfredi, the leader of the Resistance, is being chased by the Gestapo, so he decides to ask for help to his friend Francesco who is about to get married with the widow Pina. Along with the priest Don Pietro Pellegrini, they search for a procedure that allows Manfredi to acquire a new identity so he can escape from Rome. However, Marina Mari, Manfredi's lover, plots to betray him so she can ruin his plan. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay in 1947 losing it against The Best years of Our Lives (1946). I agree with the fact that the wonderful screenplay could have been better developed, and even the movie Brief Encounter (1945) directed by David Lean had a simpler screenplay, yet with a better structure. It also won the Grand Prize of the Cannes Film Festival of 1946 along with directors like Emilio Fernįndez for Marķa Candelaria (Xochimilco) (1944), David Lean for Brief Encounter (1945) and Billy Wilder for The Lost Weekend (1946).

    The influence that Roma, Cittą Aperta had over the newly originated Italian neorealist genre is very clear, and more than calling it "neorealism", we could simply consider this film as a cinematic source of realism. Roma, Cittą Aperta is one of the most realistic and honest masterpieces I have ever seen in the history of cinema. Its talent comes from the fact that the film represents the voice of a town that has been devastated by the Germans in exceedingly tragic times speaking out loud, causing the film to be banned in several countries throughout Europe. Roberto Rossellini literally had the guts to portray a reality that society was determined to reject, forget and surpass so the process of literal reconstruction the whole world was going through could have a new beginning in a much easier way and with a significantly greater amount of enthusiasm.

    The screenplay was written by Roberto Rossellini himself with the collaboration of Sergio Amidei, a screenwriter that would work along Rossellini in several future projects such as Paisą (1946), Germannita Anno Zero (1948) and Stromboli (1950), and of Federico Fellini just before his directorial debut with his film Luci del Varietą (1950). The overall structure it possesses is beyond decent, but due to the complicated plot the film had and the various characters that portrayed specific and important roles, it lacked the necessary effort put throughout it so a beautiful script could be created. The performance of Anna Magnani, who is one of my favorite actresses just after Giulietta Masina, is extraordinary. I have always admired her acting talent and her role of Pina in this film is, by no means, an unusual exception. In fact, Roma, Cittą Aperta does not stand out as a film specifically because of the technical aspects, since not even Roberto Rossellini had the required budget and means necessary to complete it in the first place, but because of the subject matter implied.

    The direction is considerably remarkable since a simple, noncreative story was not told in order to justify the neorealist genre. Something that added a heavy dose of realism and effectiveness to the plot is that the spectator gets to know the motivations of each character considering the fact that Roberto Rossellini was one of the first directors who employed a mostly inexperienced acting cast for obtaining the most natural and believable human reactions that were possible. Since the subject matter irrevocably appeals to society in a very direct form, one as a spectator is offered the feeling of being shared the same anguish the protagonists are going through and of walking through the streets of Rome. However, the film itself offers, from the very beginning, a devastated landscape that stinks of tragedy. Consequently it would seem evident at this point that Rossellini was psychologically prepared for a specific audience's rejection. Picture the similar consequences of Goodbye Lenin! (2003) being released in the year of 1990. This is where the cinematography, which caused mixed feelings, plays its role. At some points it is spectacular, especially when vastly showing open spaces such as in the beginning and ending of the movie, but sometimes it gave the impression that a different person was in charge of the camera work. Ubaldo Arata did a good job, which made me get to the conclusion that his cinematography could be bitterly appreciated in a considerable way if the film received an adequate restoration.

    Overall, Roma, Cittą Aperta has actually passed the test of time and should obtain more recognition and consideration based on what it achieved in cinema history including the creation of the most memorable Italian cinematic trend. I dare to say that it is one of the most important feature films ever conceived, and one of the most tragic, realistic and controversial as well. Despite its highly violent tone, this is the definitive masterwork by Roberto Rossellini and, inevitably, will remain being spoken about by critics and cinema lovers for several future decades to come. Besides establishing a new subgenre, it opened the eyes of the world towards the cruelty that mankind can perform towards human beings themselves.

    100/100
  • rikup
    August 31, 2009
    rikup
    A masterpiece, especially considering the circumstances. A rough story, with some touch of real life in it, thus the neorealism. Despite the fact that Rossellini had to use many different types of films, gathered from different sources, the movie succeeds in looking continuous an...( read more)d complete. You can see the change in film quality between sequences, but that is always used as an effect, as part of the scene. Pure magic.
  • hermannp1
    June 24, 2009
    hermannp1
    A very powerful social drama about a woman in NAZI occupied Rome towards the end of WW2.
  • thrusz
    August 27, 2008
    thrusz
    This print is just God awful.

    I understand that this movie was lost forever. People had no idea a print of it ever existed. So why didn't Criterion get its grubby hands all over it and re-translate it. I mean, this translation is probably the worst part of the movie. I alm...( read more)ost feel guilty reviewing it because the translation was so bad. There was entire sections of text that were ignored, I guess, because they must not have been vital to the plot. Unfortunately, God forbid, I actually like the nuace and real life conversations that go on in movies. To top it all off, the guy who did the titles was credited right at the beginning. I don't think I've ever noticed the subtitle guy get a credit in a film, let alone in a film where the titles are extremely poorly done.

    The movie from there is pretty impressive though. Sure, I really didn't get a lot of the intricacies of the plot, but I did get what was going on. There's an interesting take about the peaceful warrior. The hero of this film is a Catholic priest who does small things that make a big difference. I don't know if that was initially the intention of the fillmakers, but I did find it extremely intriguing to see a war hero without the use of a gun. Now, most underground World War II movies have to do with France. That makes a lot of sense to me. After all, the French lost so much during the war and had some of the greatest cruelty to face out of the occupied countries. But the Italians really is a new perspective. Keeping in mind that Italy and Mussolini were part of the Axis powers, the underground had to be active in a world where everyone around them could not be treated as a friend. Perhaps most of the country didn't agree with the Facists, but there had to be only a few who could stand up against their friends and neighbors to return the country to its state of homeostasis. That's a really insane idea. This movie deals with the idea of betrayal and, goodness me, you hate the traitor for all that he or she is worth. (You think I'm going to ruin the end of the movie like the book did for me.)

    Honestly, since I was watching it more for the visuals since I was completely lacking in subtitles (Amanda, I could have used your help on this one), I did notice that Rossellini does tell a very visual story. It is well known that Rossellini used actual locations for pretty much everything in the movie, including Italian apartments. But when apartments are used in film, it always looks really low budget and crappy. (I blame movies like Carnival of Souls) This does have quite the cinematic look that you can expect from a war film without being an outright war film. Sure, there are Nazis and people die, but it isn't people behind enemy lines. This is the underground movement. Heck, even Burt Lancaster as a Frenchman fired more shots than this movie. But there's the famous scene of the new wife chasing her husband down the street only to get gunned down behind the car. That kind of stuff is just brutal. Visually gorgeous, but terrifyingly brutal.

    So the long and short of it is that this is a fantastic movie that I really didn't get to appreciate nearly as much as I wanted to because of a sh*tty print, but it is a fantastic story and absolutely gorgeous throughout.

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