Roma, città aperta (Open City) (1945)

100% of critics liked it
(22 reviews)
90% of users liked it
(5,311 ratings)

Roberto Rossellini's Roma, Città Aperta (known in English as Open City) was one of the landmark films of the 1940s on several levels. Aesthetically, it was one of the first major works of Italian neorealist filmmaking and perhaps the single most influential example of the style. Historically, it was… More Roberto Rossellini's Roma, Città Aperta (known in English as Open City) was one of the landmark films of the 1940s on several levels. Aesthetically, it was one of the first major works of Italian neorealist filmmaking and perhaps the single most influential example of the style. Historically, it was among the first postwar European films to gain a significant audience in the United States, opening the door for a greater appreciation of international filmmaking in America. And politically, it was a work of tremendous bravery. The screenplay was written by Roberto Rossellini in association with Federico Fellini and Sergio Amidei while Rome was still occupied by German forces in 1943-44. Rossellini began filming in secret, using scavenged film stock without sound equipment, shortly before the city was liberated in June of 1944. Several key members of his creative team had been active in the Italian resistance movement. With its rough, documentary-style look, multi-layered narrative, and a cast that mixed amateurs with actors who didn't look like film stars, Roma, Città Aperta captured the harsh and unforgiving textures of real life as few movies of its time had dared. It set the pace for Italian Neorealism as an influential postwar film style that combined outdoor light and location shooting with non-actors, a focus on simple stories of everyday life, and a concern for the poor and for social problems. Roma, Città Aperta shows the lives of a group of people living in Rome during the Nazi occupation, after the Germans had declared it an "open city." Anna Magnani plays a woman in love with a member of a resistance group; in helping him, she risks not only her own life, but also that of her unborn child. Aldo Fabrizi plays a priest who aids the anti-Nazi cause and pays dearly for his activism. Marcello Pagliero is an outspoken communist who runs afoul of the Nazis. And Harry Feist plays a German officer who has taken an Italian lover, but whose affection for Romans does not run especially deep. While Roma, Città Aperta shows flashes of the melodramatic sentimentality that would mark much of Rossellini's later work, it still rings true as a chronicle of a city under siege and as the genesis of a powerful new film style whose influences include such later filmmakers, among many others, as John Cassavetes, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, and Spike Lee. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By: Roberto Rossellini
Written By: Sergio Amidei, Federico Fellini
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Feb 25, 1946 Wide
On DVD: Oct 15, 1997

Critic Reviews

, Toronto Star
A classic of historic importance.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
The total effect of the picture is a sense of real experience, achieved as much by the performance as by the writing and direction.
, Chicago Tribune
Remains a film of electric drama and high emotion, as well as a major turning point in film history.
Don Druker, Chicago Reader
Its realistic treatment of everyday Italian life heralded the postwar renaissance of the Italian cinema and the development of neorealism; the film astonished audiences around the world and remains a masterpiece.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
its rough, newsreel-like aesthetic gives the story's undeniably melodramatic tensions and clear-cut depictions of good and evil a sense of gritty reality and true gravity
Sean Axmaker, Seanax.com
Roberto Rossellini had been a journeyman director working within Mussolini's Italian film industry when he redefined his career and all but inaugurated the neo-realist movement...
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis
(T)hese moments are so powerful that its easy to understand the effusive rhetoric the film has inspired.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
The true "realism" comes from within the film and from the sense of artists banded together to make something because they had something to say.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Announcing the arrival of a new, revolutionary paradigm, Italian neorealism, Rossellini's masterpiece shows the tension between his realistic docu-style and use of some melodramatic devices, but flaws are overcome by unified vision and political fervor
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
Tthe lasting impact of Rossellini's work is incalculable.
Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide
Stunned audiences the world over recognized in it an unmediated authenticity more evocative of the documentary quality of wartime newsreels than of conventional WWII dramas.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Pedra fundamental do neo-realismo italiano, o filme traz atuações marcantes de Magnani e Fabrizi e ainda hoje (quase seis décadas desde sua realização) provoca forte impacto.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

altho not the first nor the definitive neorealist film, it was the one that caught the world's attention. filmed in the streets under difficult circumstances shortly after rome's liberation and still thrilling to watch, the film follows resistance fighters and ordinary… More
altho not the first nor the definitive neorealist film, it was the one that caught the world's attention. filmed in the streets under difficult circumstances shortly after rome's liberation and still thrilling to watch, the film follows resistance fighters and ordinary people trying to get on with their lives in the wake of nazi occupation. the criterion edition with high def digital transfer looks terrific. if you've tried watching this before but was put off by poor picture quality and bad subtitles check it out now :)
AJ V

A great early Italian Neo-Realism film, a must see.
Randy T

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… More
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 movement. A fantastic film.
Chris B

"Rome Open City" is the first of Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy and is a stunning and realistic look at wartime Italy through the eyes of those that lived it. It's one of the most influential and prolific of all the Italian neorealist films and a tremendous show… More
"Rome Open City" is the first of Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy and is a stunning and realistic look at wartime Italy through the eyes of those that lived it. It's one of the most influential and prolific of all the Italian neorealist films and a tremendous show of bravery by all involved in the creation of the film. Rossellini who was aided by Fellini and Amidei making the screenplay had to film in secret using scavenged film stock and no sound equipment due to the Germans and was filmed in Rome shortly before its liberation. The realities of war are terrifying and realistic and don't always end happily. "Rome Open City" preserves a time and place and helped found a powerful and beautiful style of cinema that continues inspiring and capturing the hearts and souls of all those who see it! A masterpiece that shouldn't be missed.
Tom S

What I'll remember about this one: The scenes with the kids, and the androgynous German villain duo. They both scared me. Plus there're some really fantastic scenes at the midway point and at the end.

Cast

Aldo Fabrizi
as Don Pietro Pellegrini
Anna Magnani
as Pina
Marcello Pagliero
as Giorgio Manfredi

See full cast

Roma, città aperta (Open City) (1945)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

AJ V

Randy T

Chris B

Tom S

Cast