Sunday February 5th 2017, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema. Door opens at 8pm, film begin at 9pm. Free admission.
ROME, OPEN CITY. 1945
(Roma Città Aperta)
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
103 minutes
In Italian with English subtitles
Over the next months we will slowly take a look back at the brilliant early films of Roberto Rossellini, made when Europe was utterly ruined during WWII. When you watch these movies, you are watching two films at the same time… an incredible drama, and also a documentation of history shot in the middle of real-life.
The filming of Rossellini’s first neo-realist film, ROME, OPEN CITY was began when Italy was still occupied by the Germans. Made with almost no money, and shot in the streets of Rome guerrilla-style, this film depicts what the inhabitants of Italy were going though with a searing authenticity. Utter poverty, betrayal, humiliations, extraordinary renditions (I mean “kidnappings”) and enhanced interrogations (I mean “torture”) by the Gestapo. In this movie we get a heart-rending depiction of Europe torn to shreds by war.
The story of this movie (co-written with Federico Fellini) follows one of the leaders of the Resistance who is being hunted down by the Nazis. Shot on scavenged film stock with mostly non-professional actors, natural lighting, location shooting and little money… this is the kind of cinema that is only possible through sheer vision and passion. It was her performance in this film which would shoot actress Anna Magnani to international fame. Shot illegally when Italy was under fascism, this movie has gone on to become one of the classics of cinema.
This will be a high-definition screening.
Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net
