The film Rome,Open City was truely sad seeing the time the film was made it was still fresh to everyone. it was made only about three years after these events took place whether the characters were made up or not. I don't normally enjoy films like this because I'm a sentimental person and it is just truly sad to see what so many people had to indore. This film is definitely in the top 5 films I would recommend to anyone wanting to watch a film about the events of WWII and the different people affected by it.
I think that movie “Rome Open City” is a truly realistic movie which allows the viewer to experience the terrific events of the Italian Resistance movement and its struggle against Nazi occupation. The 75th anniversary of the end of WWII is a time to watch such movies like “Rome Open City” to remember of Italian patriots and unofficial armed bands such as partisans as the members of Resistance movement which according to history were fighting three types of war: a civil war against Italian Fascists, a war of national liberation against German occupation, and a class war against the ruling elites. Communist Party groups fought all three types. Catholic or monarchist partisans, on the other hand, fought only one or two of these. The movie “Rome Open City” allows us to remember such thing as solidarity which at those time united all manner of Italian citizens — ordinary civilians like Pina, Communist partisans like her fiance Giorgio Manfredi, monarchists like the unseen forces of Badoglio, Catholic clergy like Don Pietro, and even children like Pina’s son Marcello against the racist reign of terror represented by the Nazis. In my opinion in relation to solidarity the most heroic figure becomes priest Don Pietro. In a scene where Major Bergmann tried to turn Don Pietro against Manfredi by telling him that he tried to support the men who did not deserve it because he was an atheist, Don Pietro especially showed solidarity by not telling what he knew and by replying that he believe that anyone fighting for justice and liberty walks in the ways of the Lord.
The movie will never do justice to what actually transpired but it was a very informative display of what happened to the Italian people. The fear and helplessness they must have felt would drown any normal person nowadays. I have an unrelenting respect for the fortitude of anyone who keeps there secrets to themselves under that much pain and torture. Don Pietro is a man of god and a hero to all, even if he isn’t real, some real priest somewhere during WW2 or any war did such things for the good of humanity.
Eric what an interesting perspective, the movie could never speak to the complete truth but it is better to have this. We need to have these stories told. I think that it was great to see the priest portrayed decently, I hope that many priests at this time were at least loyal and not sellouts. They have a bad reputation these days and for hundreds of years.
What struck me the most about this film was the year in which it was released, 1946. As we have learned by our research on Italy’s day of liberation, we know that it was on April 25th, 1945 when Italy first tasted freedom. I think it’s very interesting how this film was made only one year after those events. The wounds were still very much fresh within the Italian culture, yet they dedicated an entire film to those events without, perhaps, giving themselves the proper amount of time to heal. I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing, it is just surprising to me to see Italy eager to relive the horror of those events; as they captured those events so accurately. I suppose my question is, why do this so soon? The answer could be as simple as they wanted to show the world what they went through as accurately as possible. I thought it to be very brave of them to do so soon after.
“Rome Open City” has to be one of the most overwhelming films, I have ever watched. I felt the movie did a great job in portraying just how invasive the German Nazi-troops were throughout Italy. From the first scene shown in the film, I sympathized with the Italian citizens trying to survive during an internal war. However, the most unsettling scene throughout the entire film, for me, was when the German Nazi-general was speaking to his fellow soldier, and made the comment, “That would mean an Italian is as good as German, that there’s no difference between the blood of a slave race and that of a master race.”. I asked myself, “How could human beings, be so cruel and heartless? How can one race master above all other races? What made these men so great, that they felt they could destroy an entire country for their own benefit?”. I was absolutely distraught and bothered by the events depicted within this film. Overall, I felt the film was very powerful and moving, emotionally.
“Rome Open City,” gives us a clear example of what it is like to live under the fascist regime. The one thing that I liked about this film is that it does not portray the people who are cowering in fear of the regime. The characters are presented as fearless and vocal about the regime. I also liked the portrayal of women, they are presented as self independent women who are not phased by the patriarchy. The characters all seem to be working together, for the most part in order to fight against the regime. For example, Don Pierto does not sell out towards the end and even the young boys play their role. Unfortunately, I hate the death of Pina. However, I liked the reality though. Even though she was a pregnant woman, the regime probably would've had no sympathy and shot her regardless so I think that this was an accurate portrayal. At that time they were out for blood, as with almost every dictatorship. Nowadays some just hide it better, but the truth eventually comes to light.
I'm very such on the same page as you and I think that the characters are fearless towards the regime, which is inspiring for the audience. Creates a sense of togetherness and unity.
"Rome Open City" gives us a detailed look into life under the facist regime. It's an ugly period in time in terms of fear and war but the characters in the film carry us through it. I believe that they wanted to maybe portray the characters as more noble but I do think that it can cause the characters to seem unrealistic at times. However, the setting and situation in Italy create a very accurate historical world for these characters.
I didn't find any characters to be portrayed unrealistically (with perhaps exception to Major Bergmann). Can you say more specifically what gave you that impression?
The film itself, like life is a mixture of humor, darkness, war, and courage. The experience as a result is harrowing. That being said, the cast of characters serve as a ray of light within the film. Pina is stern, strong, and tender. She's a character that shose fate is painful to bear, especially considering the reality of the situation. Knowing that my ancestors had babies gutted out of there stomachs and fed to dogs by evil Europeans, is a pain that I carry with me always. Seeing a carrying mother die at the hands of European villainy is an understandable suffering, regardless of the context. Don Pietro was my favorite character, but he too was merely a body count in the path of German destruction. "We Germans refuse to realize that people want to be free… I drink every night to forget, but instead I see more clearly. All we’re good at is killing, killing, killing! We’ve strewn all of Europe with corpses, and from their graves rises up an unquenchable hatred.” This sort of haunting reflection is the only reward for those who perish by such evil means, and it can hardly be considered a reward in exchange for human lives. To me, it doesn't matter if the characters are fictional. Real people lived through it.
I touched upon this briefly in my review of the film but although this was unrealistic, I think hearing Captain Hartman the Nazi officer who had a conscience speak was very interesting, and it went against Major Bergman the Nazi officer who had ordered for Giorgio to be tortured. After some time had passed and Giorgio was significantly bloody, Officer Bergman had walked into the room where all the Nazi’s were, and he calmly said he would get Giorgio to confess soon but then Captain Bergman interjects. I don’t remember what he said verbatim but initially Captain Hartman dismisses the claim that Germans are superior and then had recalled a time when he was in France and how the French chose death over giving up information. In all I feel that scene of what Captain Hartman had said showed how inexperienced Major Bergman was and how unaware he was of the desire to be free that those he oppressed had.
When looking at Open City or any piece about WW2 it is important to think about what these people suffered through and how we can make sure something like WW2 never happens again. I enjoy that this movie does not portray the characters as either good or bad guys, many are a mix of both due to the situation they are in.
The film Rome,Open City was truely sad seeing the time the film was made it was still fresh to everyone. it was made only about three years after these events took place whether the characters were made up or not. I don't normally enjoy films like this because I'm a sentimental person and it is just truly sad to see what so many people had to indore. This film is definitely in the top 5 films I would recommend to anyone wanting to watch a film about the events of WWII and the different people affected by it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI think that movie “Rome Open City” is a truly realistic movie which allows the viewer to experience the terrific events of the Italian Resistance movement and its struggle against Nazi occupation. The 75th anniversary of the end of WWII is a time to watch such movies like “Rome Open City” to remember of Italian patriots and unofficial armed bands such as partisans as the members of Resistance movement which according to history were fighting three types of war: a civil war against Italian Fascists, a war of national liberation against German occupation, and a class war against the ruling elites. Communist Party groups fought all three types. Catholic or monarchist partisans, on the other hand, fought only one or two of these. The movie “Rome Open City” allows us to remember such thing as solidarity which at those time united all manner of Italian citizens — ordinary civilians like Pina, Communist partisans like her fiance Giorgio Manfredi, monarchists like the unseen forces of Badoglio, Catholic clergy like Don Pietro, and even children like Pina’s son Marcello against the racist reign of terror represented by the Nazis. In my opinion in relation to solidarity the most heroic figure becomes priest Don Pietro. In a scene where Major Bergmann tried to turn Don Pietro against Manfredi by telling him that he tried to support the men who did not deserve it because he was an atheist, Don Pietro especially showed solidarity by not telling what he knew and by replying that he believe that anyone fighting for justice and liberty walks in the ways of the Lord.
The movie will never do justice to what actually transpired but it was a very informative display of what happened to the Italian people. The fear and helplessness they must have felt would drown any normal person nowadays. I have an unrelenting respect for the fortitude of anyone who keeps there secrets to themselves under that much pain and torture. Don Pietro is a man of god and a hero to all, even if he isn’t real, some real priest somewhere during WW2 or any war did such things for the good of humanity.
ReplyDeleteEric what an interesting perspective, the movie could never speak to the complete truth but it is better to have this. We need to have these stories told. I think that it was great to see the priest portrayed decently, I hope that many priests at this time were at least loyal and not sellouts. They have a bad reputation these days and for hundreds of years.
DeleteWhat struck me the most about this film was the year in which it was released, 1946. As we have learned by our research on Italy’s day of liberation, we know that it was on April 25th, 1945 when Italy first tasted freedom. I think it’s very interesting how this film was made only one year after those events. The wounds were still very much fresh within the Italian culture, yet they dedicated an entire film to those events without, perhaps, giving themselves the proper amount of time to heal. I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing, it is just surprising to me to see Italy eager to relive the horror of those events; as they captured those events so accurately. I suppose my question is, why do this so soon? The answer could be as simple as they wanted to show the world what they went through as accurately as possible. I thought it to be very brave of them to do so soon after.
ReplyDelete“Rome Open City” has to be one of the most overwhelming films, I have ever watched. I felt the movie did a great job in portraying just how invasive the German Nazi-troops were throughout Italy. From the first scene shown in the film, I sympathized with the Italian citizens trying to survive during an internal war. However, the most unsettling scene throughout the entire film, for me, was when the German Nazi-general was speaking to his fellow soldier, and made the comment, “That would mean an Italian is as good as German, that there’s no difference between the blood of a slave race and that of a master race.”. I asked myself, “How could human beings, be so cruel and heartless? How can one race master above all other races? What made these men so great, that they felt they could destroy an entire country for their own benefit?”. I was absolutely distraught and bothered by the events depicted within this film. Overall, I felt the film was very powerful and moving, emotionally.
ReplyDelete“Rome Open City,” gives us a clear example of what it is like to live under the fascist regime. The one thing that I liked about this film is that it does not portray the people who are cowering in fear of the regime. The characters are presented as fearless and vocal about the regime. I also liked the portrayal of women, they are presented as self independent women who are not phased by the patriarchy. The characters all seem to be working together, for the most part in order to fight against the regime. For example, Don Pierto does not sell out towards the end and even the young boys play their role. Unfortunately, I hate the death of Pina. However, I liked the reality though. Even though she was a pregnant woman, the regime probably would've had no sympathy and shot her regardless so I think that this was an accurate portrayal. At that time they were out for blood, as with almost every dictatorship. Nowadays some just hide it better, but the truth eventually comes to light.
ReplyDeleteI'm very such on the same page as you and I think that the characters are fearless towards the regime, which is inspiring for the audience. Creates a sense of togetherness and unity.
Delete"Rome Open City" gives us a detailed look into life under the facist regime. It's an ugly period in time in terms of fear and war but the characters in the film carry us through it. I believe that they wanted to maybe portray the characters as more noble but I do think that it can cause the characters to seem unrealistic at times. However, the setting and situation in Italy create a very accurate historical world for these characters.
ReplyDeleteI didn't find any characters to be portrayed unrealistically (with perhaps exception to Major Bergmann). Can you say more specifically what gave you that impression?
Delete~ Brance Pena
DeleteThe film itself, like life is a mixture of humor, darkness, war, and courage. The experience as a result is harrowing. That being said, the cast of characters serve as a ray of light within the film. Pina is stern, strong, and tender. She's a character that shose fate is painful to bear, especially considering the reality of the situation. Knowing that my ancestors had babies gutted out of there stomachs and fed to dogs by evil Europeans, is a pain that I carry with me always. Seeing a carrying mother die at the hands of European villainy is an understandable suffering, regardless of the context. Don Pietro was my favorite character, but he too was merely a body count in the path of German destruction. "We Germans refuse to realize that people want to be free… I drink every night to forget, but instead I see more clearly. All we’re good at is killing, killing, killing! We’ve strewn all of Europe with corpses, and from their graves rises up an unquenchable hatred.” This sort of haunting reflection is the only reward for those who perish by such evil means, and it can hardly be considered a reward in exchange for human lives. To me, it doesn't matter if the characters are fictional. Real people lived through it.
ReplyDeleteYour character analysis is very detailed and interesting.
DeleteI touched upon this briefly in my review of the film but although this was unrealistic, I think hearing Captain Hartman the Nazi officer who had a conscience speak was very interesting, and it went against Major Bergman the Nazi officer who had ordered for Giorgio to be tortured. After some time had passed and Giorgio was significantly bloody, Officer Bergman had walked into the room where all the Nazi’s were, and he calmly said he would get Giorgio to confess soon but then Captain Bergman interjects. I don’t remember what he said verbatim but initially Captain Hartman dismisses the claim that Germans are superior and then had recalled a time when he was in France and how the French chose death over giving up information. In all I feel that scene of what Captain Hartman had said showed how inexperienced Major Bergman was and how unaware he was of the desire to be free that those he oppressed had.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at Open City or any piece about WW2 it is important to think about what these people suffered through and how we can make sure something like WW2 never happens again. I enjoy that this movie does not portray the characters as either good or bad guys, many are a mix of both due to the situation they are in.
ReplyDelete