Planned while German troops were still jackbooting around the streets of Rome, and shot only a few weeks after they were driven out, Roberto Rossellini's stark 1944-set drama tangibly captures the fear and tension of the city under Nazi occupation. A resistance leader on the run seeks shelter among friends in a shabby tenement block - but he's betrayed, captured and turned over to the Gestapo.
Co-scripted by Fellini, the film was shot on a tiny budget under primitive conditions, but Rossellini and his team turned the limitations to their advantage, working with a largely non-professional cast and filming on the very streets where the events had so recently occurred. Rough and raw, Rome, Open City has an immediacy that still hits home. Too bad that this release lazily uses the inadequate original subtitles, which translate barely a third of the dialogue.
DVD Extras:
Just a recently-made 47-minute documentary - - affectionate but rambling.
