Rome, Open City (1945)

Cast

• Aldo Fabrizi Don Pietro Pellegrini
• Marcello Pagliero Giorgio Manfredi aka Luigi Ferraris
• Harry Feist Major Fritz Bergmann
• Anna Magnani Pina
• Maria Michi Marina Mari
• Francesco Grandjacquet Francesco
• Vito Annichiarico Marcello
• Ákos Tolnay Austrian Deserter
• Joop van Hulzen Captain Hartmann
• Carla Rovere Lauretta
• Giovanna Galletti Ingrid
• Nando Bruno Agostino the Sexton
• Eduardo Passarelli Neighborhood Police Sergeant
• Carlo Sindici Police Commissioner
• Turi Pandolfini Grandfather (uncredited)
• Amalia Pellegrini Nannina (uncredited)
• Alberto Tavazzi The Priest (uncredited)

Crew

Director

Roberto Rossellini

Director of Photography

Ubaldo Arata

Editor

Eraldo Da Roma

Editor

Jolanda Benvenuti

Original Music Composer

Renzo Rossellini

Producer

Roberto Rossellini

Producer

Giuseppe Amato

Producer

Rod E. Geiger

Screenplay

Roberto Rossellini

Screenplay

Sergio Amidei

Screenplay

Federico Fellini

Story

Sergio Amidei

Details

Budget

$20,000

Revenue

$1,000,000

IMDb

tt0038890

TMDB

307

Keywords

• 1940s
• audacious
• curfew
• desertion
• drug addiction
• fascism
• italian neo realism
• nazi
• nazi occupation
• neo realism
• nsdap (nazi party)
• resistance
• rome, italy
• world war ii

Videos

• 'Rome, Open City' | Critic's Picks | The New York Times Featurette
• Mark Kermode reviews Rome, Open City (1945) | BFI Player Featurette
• Roberto Rossellini: The War Trilogy - trailer | BFI Blu-ray Trailer
• Rome, Open City (Roma Città Aperta) - back in cinemas 17 May 2024 | BFI Trailer
• Trailer [Subtitled] Trailer

Reviews

CinemaSerf · ★ 7 · 2024-02-17

The fact that this was filmed in Rome at a time when you could probably still smell the fleeing Nazi's petrol fumes gives this an enthralling sense of authenticity. The story is centred around the character of "Manfredi" (Marcello Pagliero) who is being chased by the Gestapo, and so is trying to escape. Even though Rome has been declared "open" and is therefore not subject to bombardment, the citizens are still very much under the control of their occupiers and getting "Mandredi" to safety is no easy feat. He seeks shelter with his friend "Francesco" (Francesco Grandjacquet) but meets his fiancée "Pina" (Anna Magnani) instead. She wants to help him out and so they send for the priest "Don Pietro" (Aldo Fabrizi) who sees the safety of these resistance fighters as a core part of his responsibility to God. Even he, clad in his robes, is not immune though from the pursuing authorities and as they close in things become increasingly more perilous for all concerned. This is one of the most poignant wartime stories I have ever seen. It conveys the sense of brutality being faced by the community, but it also allows room for a spirit of optimism and hope to emerge too. The children continue to play and though their food is rationed, their day to day lives are not touched by the mayhem of many occupants of ruined cities elsewhere. The casting of the soldiers is masterly, as is that of the collaborative police commissioner and the whole ensemble, coupled with the characterful writing and the delicately framed photography really does give us a plausible insight into just how - even as the war was coming to a close - dangerous their lives were. It doesn't spare us some ghastliness at the conclusion either - but that's somehow an ultimate validation of an humanity that is plentiful throughout.

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