Rome, Open City ( Roma città aperta ) in 35mm
About the event
Made for less than $20,000 just after the liberation of Italy by US forces, Rossellini’s first installment in his Neo-Realist Trilogy, which also includes Paisan (1946, screening on November 15) and Germany, Year Zero (1948, screening the same day), is also considered the first product of neo-realism. The devastation of Nazi-occupied Rome serves as an all-too-real backdrop for a story that could have been ripped from the headlines: a resistance leader (Aldo Fabrizi) is pursued through town as he seeks shelter and a safe escape. With “the terror of German occupation [...] still vivid in the minds of everyone,” (Patrizio Rossi, 1988) including Rossellini’s lead actress, the great Anna Magnani, Rome, Open City serves as a prototype for a series of films that characterize the best of Italian cinema.
