1945: Rome Open City - How Neo-Realism Shows You The World

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Martin Scorsese once called Italian Neo-realism “The most precious moment in film history”. Born from the war-torn ruins of Post WWII Italy, Italian neorealism, the movement spawned some of the greatest films ever made, The Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D, and of course, Rome Open City.
This video takes a look at Roberto Rossellini 1945 masterpiece Rome Open City and how it influenced Italian Neo-Realism.
Thanks for watching One Hundred Years of Cinema, I will be writing a video essay about at least one film each year from 1915 onward to track the evolution of film over the last century. Please subscribe and share! Thank you!
You can support me on Patreon here: www.patreon.com/onehundredyearsofcinema
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[@saigokun]

Interesting documentary. Italian Neo-realism had also a great influence outside Italy. Even Alfred Hitchcock tried his hand on it with his The Wrong Man (1956) in which he combines Italian Neo-realism with Franz Kafka.

[@crobeastness]

This isn't a documentary

[@tagorewithlyric4394]

Exactly! It had an immense impact on some Indian directors as well, especially Ray

[@tagorewithlyric4394]

@Aaron Ronald that's kinda weird my dude

[@avatarnicholas]

I'm watching the 100 greatest movies and I want to thank you because you've covered many of the movies on my list. I hate that you stopped but am thankful for all the content we got

[@NeptuneCactus]

Yes! Welcome back!! This movie's incredible, and I was hoping you would cover it!!

[@onehundredyearsofcinema]

Thank you!

[@khris461]

Neorealism changed everything. True cinema began afterwards Bresson changed his style and citied bicycle thieves as one of his favourites. Which is why diary of country priest was the beginning of the Bresson we all know and love. Which was also a film Bergman loved too. The trickle effect of the search for truth through cinema made the next decade of cinema an amazing feat globally. Japan, Italy and eventually France. It can all be pin pointed from this new position of what cinema is. In my opinion cinema seen as an art form, the autures and so on can all be traced back here. Everything before this was more an experimental period with great films coming from mostly painters turned filmmakers. But here from neorealism onwards we see the beginning of the artistic director and that search for truth. This is such a pivotal moment in cinema history , thanks for sharing

[@arnepianocanada]

11:03 Ingrid Bergman. Swedish actress who found Hollywood stifling, saw 'Rome Open City' and was stunned. She wrote to Rosselini; worked with and then married him (int'l scandal!) Readers likely know.

[@musamusashi]

Isabella Rossellini, actress and model, is their daughter.

[@antoniobroccoliporto4774]

There was no special equipment available when these films were made…they actually used baby carriages as camera dollies. They had to improvise and it was a matter of necessity rather than a purposeful use of technique…but thank goodness to this the look that was achieved was more documentary and almost pseudo journalistic accounting of events. Thank you for such an accurate portrayal of how, what and why neorealism was what it was. It was born in post war torn Italy the perfect backdrop for a realistic portrayal of the time period of the movie. My college thesis for my Italian Cinema class back in 1978 was “ La battaglia di Algeri “ by Gillo Pontecorvo another great Neo-realist director who really achieved verisimilitude in his work.

[@Rogertuup]

Once again, a very insightful look at everything surrounding, influencing and building (towards) this classic. Thank you for these thorough and well-researched essays!

[@Plazmasoftware]

Please make more videos! I am binge-watching and super grateful for the content you make, maybe it's a niche product, which could be demotivating to you, but to me seeing it all unfold in historical order is exactly what I needed!

[@onehundredyearsofcinema]

Hey, thanks! I love making these, I just work a lot and it's hard to make time to write and edit. But there is a new video in the pipes and it should be coming out soon.

[@musamusashi]

Nice video, apart from some misspronunciations 😉. As an Italian, i am so proud of this season of cinema as well as of the subsequent golden era of italian classic commedy of the 50's to 70's. To see how low Italian cinema has gone from the 80's onward is depressing to say the least.

[@YouHaveBeenWatchingFilms]

This film is so wonderful, the Rossellini War trilogy is perfect. My personal favourite is Paisan but each film explores tragedy, wartime struggles and those gentler sweet moments of endurance so beautifully.

[@TheChecazzovuoidame]

In fact, besides the post-war trilogy, some authors identify an earlier, first Fascist War Trilogy in the early part of his career (under the Fascism). His first film as a director, La nave bianca (The white ship - 1941), was sponsored by the Royal Navy Department of Propaganda, together with Un pilota (A Pilot) and L'uomo dalla croce (The man of the cross - 1943). Before that, in 1940 he was called to assist Francesco De Robertis in Uomini sul fondo (Men under the sea). His close friendship with Vittorio Mussolini, son of the Duce and responsible for cinema, was interpreted as a possible reason why he was preferred to other apprentices

[@ricardorodriguez5549]

I agree. An absolutely monumental and deeply affecting drama

[@easytiger9604]

good job on the video Charlie! big thanks for that, it sets the tone for the essay I have to write on Italian neorealism, particularly the political message that it carried; I'm glad you mentioned other Italian films of that time as well, like Obsession and Shoeshine, which I really love, it's awesome that you bring awareness to films that might've been forgotten a bit over time... thanks again! I'm definitely staying on your channel for this great journey

[@amasonedalnib1858]

Concise but rather thorough video. Well done, mate.

[@penelopehudson1761]

I’m so glad you are back! I was worried about you. Another clever insightful episode of 100 years of cinema. Keep up the good work.

[@thejquinn]

Hi there, if you love neorealist film, then give my own indie film a chance, and if you have a Letterboxd account feel free to leave it a review/rate. Thanks/Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eae2paZ4gbhlpM0

[@danielfowler9553]

Omg thank you so much for coming back. We love these!

[@atlroxmysox98]

I'm loving the Debussy in the background. "Girl With the Flaxen Hair" is one of my faves

[@AlfredoRoccia]

5:27 It wasn't called the "Italian Socialist Republic" but "Italian Social Republic." In Italian politics, the term "social" has always been associated with right movements like, again, the one that you describe and the next "Social Italian Movement", namely a Fascist Party which was able to be in the italian Parliament from 1950s to 1990s. On the other hand, "socialist" was, of course, the left-wing party, which included partisans and political forces that rebuilt Italy.

[@thejquinn]

Hi there, if you love neorealist film, then give my own indie film a chance, and if you have a Letterboxd account feel free to leave it a review/rate. Thanks/Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eae2paZ4gbhlpM0

[@THEDONTTELLSHOW]

You always get that little bit extra on this channel. I love it. Thank you.

[@THEPBFELIPE]

Excellent explanation and exposition of facts. Thanks!

[@Larkinchance]

In the early 50's, TV was a new medium. For lack of content they showed anything they could. Italian neo-realism could not compete with domestic Hollywood film so it was shown on TV to fill the void. It made a life long impression on me. I was 10 years at the time.

[@Larkinchance]

Today, when the cinema is filled with super heros and light hearted humor, it is time to look in the mirror...

[@collettewhitney2141]

Hello there great to see you back I trust you are keeping well in these unexpected time Be well Be safe and sound Look after yourself ❤️💕💖

[@onehundredyearsofcinema]

Thanks Collette! look after yourself too!

[@collettewhitney2141]

@@onehundredyearsofcinema thank you so much for your kind reply Take care and keeping fingers crossed we will get through this

[@aquibalamLUMOS]

You deserve way more subscriber dude. This is an excellent channel. Keep up the good work.

[@allanbani]

Finally a new upload. I was getting worried about you.

[@quentinmackenzie4650]

It's worth noting that "Aniki-Bóbó," by Manoel de Oliveira, is an even earlier percursor to Italian neorrealism than "Ossessione," having been released in 1942.

[@thiccboss4780]

Thank you so much for this New Episode Charlie, expectations met with exceeding satisfaction. I've always procrastinated a Bicycle Thieves viewing, but after your essay i'm glad i didn't ruin my first viewing by skipping ROC, quite glad for that now. Your Verbal Articulations and Editing Styles haven't aged one bit, and i liked how often in this video you frequently used synchronized text on the screen to more strongly emphasize certain points, quite effective and yet subtle. _ anyway hope you're doing well Charlie,staying safe and clean in this time of epidemic.........i wonder what kind of films will be unconsciously made from this kind of Era, watched Dawn of the Dead yesterday and boy does it feel appropriate and ahead of its time....... _but i digress_ You must be struggling to be producing these essays, personal life stuff affecting your time table or otherwise, all in its due time i hope you can always find the motivation and energy to make these ambitious videos, you deserve much more subscriptors and viewers than currently. and i hope The Recognition you deserve is't far from the present, until then , Good Luck with any and all affairs which you may be preoccupied with, and may good fortunes and high spirits be on your path always. Godspeed and thank you for the content C

[@onehundredyearsofcinema]

Cheers man! It's really interesting to wonder about what kinds of films these times will produce. My schedule has been fairly hectic for the last year or so, but I think I am going to have more time in the next few months. Please stay safe, Charlie

[@thejquinn]

Hi there, if you love neorealist film, then give my own indie film a chance, and if you have a Letterboxd account feel free to leave it a review/rate. Thanks/Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eae2paZ4gbhlpM0

[@hamburgareable]

Welcome back!!

[@pakemilio]

This is great! But Camerini's Gli uomini che mascalzoni! (aka What Scoundrels Men Are! 1932) is used here to illustrate the so-called Telefoni Bianchi movies (by the way it is pronounced 'bianki' not 'biantchi'). This is misleading. In fact there are elements in Camerini's movie that anticipate elements on neorealism or at least are critical of the Fascist regime - the use of dialect, for instance. Otherwise this is excellent.

[@KristinaRamos0514]

Thank you so much for this!!!

[@thewerepyreking]

More commentary from probably the best film channel-documentary on the internet.

[@Lolibeth]

Thank you for highlighting Italian Neorealism's moral stance over simply aesthetics. While I like the aesthetics (a lot!) they are in service of the social stance. It's not neorealism without the socio-political punch behind it.

[@bogey]

yess he's back!!

[@eldaytripper2]

Grande. Bel video!

[@jackd.ripper1489]

Welcome back!

[@pattongilbert]

Loved what this taught me about movies.

[@reelscreenwriting8940]

Love this channel :)

[@arnepianocanada]

Neo-realism pulled civilized veneers off Hollywood and White Telephone output. It impacted film noir, Hitchcock (as saigokun below says), Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, even '60s counterculture films.

[@musamusashi]

Not to mention how it influenced the best season of Brasilian cinema (Cinema Novo) and the huge impact it had on the great Hollywood Italian-American directors.

[@claduke]

One funny story about film in fascist Italy: the film adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel We the Living. Was incredibly popular in Italy when it came out, to the point that a member of the Italian government at the time (could have been Mussolini himself, but I'm not sure on that) showed the movie to one of the Nazi leadership, because of the anti-Communist themes. The Nazi called him an idiot, because the subject matter was not just anti-Communist, but anti-authoritarian generally. The fascist government banned the film immediately.

[@ademkthesecond]

yesterday when i was watching your video i was thinking when you are gonna be back

[@AnthonySmith-ty7ij]

Well done. Some picks for future 1945 to 1946 would be The Lost Weekend and the effect of alcoholism on screen. For 1946, my choices would be It's A Wonderful Life for the rise of independent filmmaking. The Best Years of Our Lives showing the changing of times after World War II. Another is Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious to the rise of the Nuclear age to use of uranium. Finally, A Matter of Life and Death showing the rise of British cinema thanks to Powell and Pressberger. That is my opinion for you, but it is your channel, you decide. Welcome back.

[@karlkarlos3545]

Wait, that channel is still active? When you make it to the movies of the 70s with that speed, humanity will be extinct.

[@thiccboss4780]

by the time he finishes 100 years......there will be 20 more years to analyze

[@onehundredyearsofcinema]

I want to make sure I am still making videos about movies when I am an extremely old man.

[@martinrenzhofer8241]

@@onehundredyearsofcinema Stay with it my man. It's a quality site.

[@thejquinn]

Hi there, if you love neorealist film, then give my own indie film a chance, and if you have a Letterboxd account feel free to leave it a review/rate. Thanks/Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eae2paZ4gbhlpM0

[@karlkarlos3545]

@@thejquinn Nope.

[@hazed_23]

Awesome video but it's "Italian Social Republic" not Socialist. Actually it hadn't nothing socialist about it.

[@thejquinn]

Hi there, if you love neorealist film, then give my own indie film a chance, and if you have a Letterboxd account feel free to leave it a review/rate. Thanks/Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eae2paZ4gbhlpM0

[@marcomartinscastanho584]

I think Funny Ha Ha is from 2002, not 1969 (unless it's another film with the same name)

[@CinemaGatesPictures]

New Silent films coming soon!,from my studio.

[@quasicroissant]

5:22 Italian Social Republic, not Italian Socialist Republic

[@DeanH92]

Telefoni “bee-ankee” “Lu-keeno” Visconti Work on your Italian, and I might click the like button 🙂

[@loretta_3843]

"Ch" followed by the letter "I" or "E" is pronounced with a "K" sound. "Telefoni bianchi" becomes "telefoni bianKi", Luchino Visconti is pronounced "LuKino" Visconti ("ci" or "ce" is pronounced like a "ch" in English - I'm sure I've bored you enough and explained it terribly!)

[@sylvainwaindezaki2.034]

will you ever talk about some film abou Raoul Walsh?

[@kostajovanovic3711]

Maybe in 49 with white heat

[@sebastianplaza2329]

Spanish subtitles please:(

[@MrLakastro]

Pather Panchali is Indian ... :)

Hola! Estamos empezando un proyecto de reseñas, analisis y recomendaciones de peliculas de todo tipo. Nos encantaria si nos podrias ayudar a recomendar o difundir el canal ya que somos grandes admiradores. Saludos!!!

[@enriqueprieto2922]

Yay

[@arnepianocanada]

Superb work, except *please* learn pronuncing of names. "RoSSelini" (not Roz); Anna is "MaNYANi" (Not MaGNA...) Would you like us calling you CharLYE as in lye soap?

[@johnduncan4387]

Yee haw

[@darkstar223]

Us ….you mean the poor

[@goldendreams3437]

HE'S BACK! YESSSS!