#500: ROSSELLINI, Roberto: Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy (1945-48)

ROBERTO ROSSELLINI'S WAR TRILOGY {Spine #500} OOP

DVD

Roberto Rossellini is one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. And it was with his trilogy of films made during and after World War II — Rome Open City, Paisan, and Germany Year Zero — that he left his first transformative mark on cinema. With their stripped-down aesthetic, largely nonprofessional casts, and unorthodox approaches to storytelling, these intensely emotional works were international sensations and came to define the neorealist movement. Shot in battle-ravaged Italy and Germany, these three films are some of our most lasting, humane documents of devastated postwar Europe, containing universal images of both tragedy and hope.

Rome Open City (1945) {Spine #497}

Paisan (1946) {Spine #498}

Germany Year Zero (1948) {Spine #499}

#500: Essay by James Quandt — Myth and Manipulation

“The tenets of neorealism have been variously construed over the years, but their essential features include: location shooting and refusal of the studio: the use, when possible, of available or natural light (rather than Hollywood’s three-point lighting): nonprofessional actors representing ordinary, often lower-class characters like themselves: unobtrusive camera work and editing; and a rejection of traditional narrative in favor of a documentary-like recording of preexisting reality, captured whole (i.e., long takes preferred over montage).”

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