265. Viaggio in Italia/Voyage in Italy (1953)

Running Time: 83 minutes
Directed By: Roberto Rossellini
Written By: Vitaliano Brancati, Roberto Rossellini
Main Cast: Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Maria Mauban, Anna Proclemer, Paul Muller

ROSSELLINI WEEK: THE CONCLUSION

In 657 movie reviews, this is the first one I almost forgot to write. I watched "Voyage in Italy" last night and intended to write the review when I got home from work today. Then, of course, came the news out of Boston, of the bombings and after being glued to the television for a little while, I fell asleep for an afternoon nap. Well, I'm wide awake now and it's time to wrap up "Rossellini Week".

NOTE: Speaking of the Boston situation, I'd like to take just a moment to send thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by today's events.

When the film begins, we meet the Joyce's - Katherine (Bergman) and Alex (Sanders) - as they're driving across Italy. You see, Alex's uncle has recently died and this English couple have come to Naples to sell a an inherited villa. Once they find the place and are given the grand tour, Alex expresses his desire to wrap up the trip as quick as possible. Being a workhorse (although I don't think it's ever said what he does exactly), he hopes to get home soon, so as not to let his work suffer. The Joyce's, once settled in, meet up with some old friends, by chance and Katherine gazes on with jealousy as Alex chats it up with a friend of a friend...a female, friend of a friend. As the day's progress, Katherine and Alex start to realize that they're just not right for one another any longer. Small tiffs lead to even bigger arguments and one thing leads to another and Alex decides to distance himself of the whole situation, by heading to neighboring Capri and spending a few days. Katherine takes the time to take in some of the sites of Pompei and Naples; visiting museums and even visiting Mt. Vesuvius. She's worried about Alex and the state of her marriage, but the audience can assume that even she'd admit, that with him gone her Italian vacation goes a lot smoother. Alex eventually returns and old problems resurface. Will the Joyce's make it out of Italy as man and wife, or will the knot come untied?

Seeing as how I nearly totally forgot to write this review and was headed to watch my next movie, I'm in movie watching mode and not movie writing mode, so I hope to wrap things up quickly, as it pertains to "Voyage in Italy". What started out as a perfectly acceptable premise - a ditch of the neorealism and talks of sainthood for Rossellini and fresh start, with a fresh movie and a fresh idea, turned sour pretty quick. Hey, I'm all for marriage in peril movies. I'm not sure why, but it's always been a topic that has intrigued me on film. Maybe because I have a perfect marriage and am astonished to watch movies about couples that don't. So, needless to say, I was ready for this one. I was hoping that this would be the movie that would bust Rossellini out of his slump and seemingly endless attack on my personal tastes. Well, I wasn't quite right. But, hey, it wasn't a total loss and it could've been worse...remember "Open City"?

Anyway, what started out as a marriage in peril movie, quickly turned into a "Vacationer's Guide to Traveling in Italy". Rossellini took advantage of some of the sites of Italy, more specifically Naples and therefore we get scenes with Ingrid Bergman touring museums and volcano sites. I'm not knocking the sites of Italy either, because I actually enjoyed seeing those statues and watching the smoke billow out of holes at the Vesuvius tour, but it took away from the real plot and that was a man and wife whose marriage was falling apart. THE BOOK is bold enough to compare "Voyage in Italy" to "Contempt", but this was barely half as good as that film. Like I said, not terrible, but it had the ability to dash even my slimmest of hopes. What should have been a film that was heavily dialogue driven, was actually a picture that relied more on visual aids and real life touring locations. I wish I could've wrapped "Rossellini Week" on a positive note, but sadly, I cannot.

RATING: 5.5/10  Better than average, but barely. And, by the way, while I did mention that Ingrid Bergman shined in "Europa '51", she didn't in this and really made me realize how much I dislike her as an actress.

RANKING ROSSELLINI

I'd normally take this time to say a few words about Rossellini. I'll say a few, but I'll keep it extra short, because I simply don't have that much to say. Obviously Rossellini was a director that repelled me, rather than appealed to me. It's obvious that others have seen his films, accepted them and praised them, but obviously my reactions were not the same and my main reaction right now is joy...joy that I'm finished with the works of Rossellini. I thank THE BOOK for introducing him to me, but I'm also thankful that his films, as far as THE BOOK goes, are finished.

1. Paisan (This was the most watchable, but honestly, "Voyage in Italy" and "Europa '51" are probably higher quality films)
2. Voyage in Italy
3. Europa '51
4. Open City 

MOVIES WATCHED: 657
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 344

April 15, 2013   10:37pm

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247. Europa '51 (1952)

Running Time: 113 minutes
Directed By: Roberto Rossellini
Written By: Sandro De Feo, Mario Pannunzio, Ivo Perilli, Brunello Rondi, Roberto Rossellini
Main Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Alexander Knox, Ettore Giannini, Giulietta Masina, Marcella Rovena

ROSSELLINI WEEK: PART THREE

I'm really surprised at how fast I'm getting through these Rossellini movies, considering the fact that I'm really not taking to them very well. "Open City" was a complete letdown, "Paisan" was a little better, but still nothing worth writing home about and now you have "Europa '51", that is in the middle somewhere.

The film opens with Irene Girard (Bergman) arriving home (via her driver), a bourgeoisie housewife, who has invited guests to dinner at the last minute. She gets inside, informs the servants and cooks of the impending arrival of the, apparently, important guests and then lets her husband George (Knox) in on who's visiting. While she frantically gets ready, slipping into a stunning white dress, her son (probably between the ages of 7 and 10) eagerly tries to get her attention, proclaiming that he needs to talk to her. She gives him about half of her attention, but continually updates the servants on the activities of the evening and continues to get ready, never really giving her son the attention he craves. During dinner, after the guests have arrived, Irene's son continues to try to get her attention, saying he's sick and needs her, but she still just doesn't have time for him, forcing him to go to sleep and basically telling him to leave her alone. Then, during dinner, a maid informs Irene that her son has thrown himself down the stairs and is hurt badly. At the hospital, she is told that he fractured his hip and is sent home the next day. Irene, of course, feels awful about the whole ordeal and the next day, when her son is at home, he dies of an embolism. For weeks, Irene confines herself to her bed, with George pleading with her to please eat and try to get herself back to normal. Irene refuses and only when she can finally talk to her best friend, Andrea (Giannini) does she feel a little better. Andrea is a newspaperman, who, during casual conversation, tells her about a family that doesn't have the money to get their son the medicine he needs and that he'll probably die. The family being discussed lives in a ghetto area and Irene happily suggests lending the poor family the money to get the medicine. What follows is a complete transformation for Irene, from bourgeoisie housewife, hosting important dinner parties and employing maids and servants to the Irene that gives to poor and helps the less fortunate...even to the dismay of her husband.

SPOILER ALERT!!

For the sake of getting to bed at a reasonable hour, I'm going to TRY to keep this review as short & sweet as possible. To begin with, anybody out there that owns THE BOOK, let me tell you that the picture that is used with the "Europa '51" entry, is nowhere to be found in the finished film and actually, it's a pretty eerie shot of Ingrid Bergman staring at a heavily shrouded, ghost-like figure. Either I TOTALLY missed this in the movie (which I really don't think I did) or it just isn't there, which begs the question: Where did this picture come from? Anyway...

The most fascinating aspect of "Europa '51", to me anyway, is how Ingrid Bergman's character is basically condemned for making the decision to be a good person. In fact, she is condemned to the point of being locked away in a mental institution, because no one can seem to understand why this upper class woman would want to, all of a sudden, start helping people. It king of reverts back to the ideas that were brought up in "Haxan" - a film I watched, what seems like, so long ago - where they bring forth the idea that mentally unstable people in the olden days were thought to be witches, due to their erratic behavior. Okay, maybe one has nothing to do with the other, but it just got me to thinking about how mental illness can, so often, be misunderstood and misdiagnosed. Perhaps Rossellini was even trying to make parallels between Irene Girard and Joan of Arc? Both women who were considered saints by the people that knew them, but condemned by their country, because being good and pure is too queer an idea for society to accept.

There were certainly good things about this movie, but as a whole, I wouldn't call it a good movie. It was acceptable, at best and I'd hoped for something more, having moved out of the "War Trilogy" and into the Ingrid Bergman/Rossellini collaborative efforts. I've never been a huge fan of Ingrid Bergman. I find her to be a bit stale and actually, quite unattractive for a Hollywood leading lady or any leading lady, for that matter. She shines here though and I'd say that this MAY HAVE been her best performance yet, from THE BOOK. The rest of the cast, however, is a non-issue, because this is a one woman show and that's a shame with the gifted Giulietta Masina on set and Alexander Knox, who seems to be prepared to turn in a fine performance, but is never given the chance. The film starts out really good. The suicide committed by a child, the depression of a housewife, but then we get into some less interesting storytelling and by the end, aside from the whole condemnation of a "saint" idea, they'd pretty much lost me. Bergman fans are going to love this, as are Rossellini fans, I'm sure. However, casual moviegoers or even avid moviegoers, I think, will find the film too long, with not enough going on to maintain it's running time (not even two hours, but still). THE BOOK compares the film to a stew that certain moviegoers might be hesitant to taste. Having tasted this stew, I can say that something tasty to wash it down with is a must..."Voyage in Italy" perhaps? We'll see.

RATING: 5.5/10  Again, a Rossellini picture that just sort of languishes here in the dead zone (anything between a 4.5 - 6.5 - neither good, nor bad). Next up for "Rossellini Week": "Voyage in Italy".

MOVIES WATCHED: 656
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 345

April 13, 2013  2:17am

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184. Paisa/Paisan (1946)

Running Time: 123 minutes
Directed By: Roberto Rossellini
Written By: Sergio Amidei, Federico Fellini
Main Cast: Carmela Sazio, Robert Van Loon, Dots Johnson, Alfonsino Pasca, Maria Michi

ROSSELLINI WEEK: PART TWO

After my less than impressed opinions of "Open City", it's understandable that I was hesitant going into "Paisan" - Rossellini's second feature from THE BOOK. However, this time around the results weren't nearly as abysmal.

"Paisan" is broken up into six episodes, each set in a different Italian city and each dealing with the Americans involvement in World War II, on the Italian home front. Here is a breakdown of each episode:

Episode 1: An American patrol lands in Sicily and happen upon a church, where a group of Italians are hiding out. One of the Americans speaks Italian and finds out that a German patrol recently left the area, leaving a minefield in their wake. One of the Italians, Carmela (Sazio), agrees to guide them. When they get to an acceptable hideout area, they leave Carmela and another solider, Joe (Van Loon) behind. While left alone, Joe and Carmela try their best to communicate, despite not knowing each others languages.

Episode 2: Set in Naples, a young boy befriends a drunken, African American member of the American Military Police. When the drunk MP falls asleep, the boy steals his shoes. Later, the MP reunites with the boy and demands his shoes back. Yeah...that's pretty much it.

Episode 3: Set in Rome and perhaps the best of the six episodes (either this or the first, for sure), Episode 3 tells the story of a prostitute named Francesca who picks up an American soldier named Fred. Once back at her place, Fred tells Francesca of a girl he spent some time with six months prior, whom he loved. It turns out that the girl he spent the time with WAS Francesca.

Episode 4: American nurse Harriet and partisan Massimo take a dangerous trip through a small town in Florence, looking for a former painter and current leader of the partisans, Lupo.

Episode 5: A group of three American chaplains are welcomed into a Roman-Catholic monastery. When the monks find out that one of chaplains is Jewish and another is Protestant, they are more than a little turned off.

Episode 6: Probably the worst episode, but maybe just because I was ready for it all to be over...I don't know. This one has the most action is set in the midst of battle, as a company of partisans are murdered, despite attempts to save them by a British company. Also probably the most violent of the six episodes.

So, maybe it was the fact that the film was segmented into six sections, thus giving the viewer six opportunities to find something that appealed to them or maybe it was just a flat out better film than "Open City", but I enjoyed this one loads more than the former Rossellini offering. I highly enjoyed Episodes 1 & 3 and I'd even say that 2 & 4 were pretty good. 5 was decent and 6 was, by far, the worst. Rossellini continues his neorealist exploration of World War II, using non-professional and professional actors to tell his six stories. Once again, I'm surprised that Fellini had anything to do with this. If I recall correctly, none of the seven Fellini offerings from THE BOOK, where he served as director, had anything to do with the war - World War II or otherwise. Let's keep this review on the short side today, since I don't want to be accused of babbling. Let's call this a mild success, a lot better than "Open City" and a definite step in the right direction for "Rossellini Week".

RATING: 6/10  Not great or anything, just sort of languishing there in the dead zone. But compared to "Open City" it was a big win and now I don't have to dread those final two Rossellini pictures quite as much. Next up for "Rossellini Week": "Europa 51".

MOVIES WATCHED: 655
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 346

April 12, 2013  4:33pm

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178. Roma, citta aperta/Open City (1945)

Running Time: 100 minutes
Directed By: Roberto Rossellini
Written By: Sergio Amidei, Federico Fellini
Main Cast: Marcello Pagliero, Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Francesco Grandjacquet, Maria Michi

ROSSELLINI WEEK: PART ONE

So I've finally been able to track down all of the films (four of them) of Roberto Rossellini's, from THE BOOK, which means we can finally have a "Rossellini Week". I'm 100% unfamiliar with Rossellini's work, having never seen one of his films, prior to this morning's viewing of "Open City".

The film takes place in Italy, during World War II and the Nazi occupation. When the film opens, a group of SS men are looking for Giorgio Manfredi (Pagliero), a leader of the National Liberation Committee. Manfredi manages to elude them, jumping across rooftops and eventually finding solace at a friends apartment, Francesco (Grandjacquet). When he arrives at his apartment, Francesco isn't home, but he does meet Francesco's fiance, Pina (Magnani), who welcomes him kindly. Francesco and Pina are to be married the following day and Pina is with child. Manfredi, almost immediately, asks for Catholic priest, Don Pietro Pellegrini (Fabrizi). When the priest comes, Manfredi asks him for his assistance in hiding from the Germans and in doing some business for him, since he cannot be seen in public and since priests are not subject to the curfew rule. All the while, the group (Manfredi and his fellow liberators) are being hunted by the Gestapo Commander, who looks over the city and interrogates suspects accordingly.

I started to watch "Open City" last night, but fell asleep at about the twenty minute mark and when I woke up, just decided to throw in the towel and watch it when I could keep my eyes open. This morning proved to be a good time, as I actually made it through this fairly boring BOOK offering and thank God I have it behind me. Do you know how sick I am of World War II films? Very! I bet that somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 - 40% of all THE BOOK movies have SOMETHING to do with World War II; whether they're about the various occupations of different countries (Poland, Italy, France, etc), set in the trenches or about the holocaust. All right, so maybe I'm not sick of holocaust movies, but you can take the rest of them and be gone with them...and I bet there's still plenty more to come.

SPOILER ALERT!

Not much happened here, to be totally honest with you guys. You've got Manfredi, who is standing in the way of the Germans missions, he's in hiding and they want him. He hides out at his friends house for a little while and then, later, at his girlfriends house, before being caught, tortured and finally killed. According to THE BOOK, this film went against normal, Italian, movie making standards and I don't deny that, but does it still hold up today? Not for this viewer. I had a really rough time getting to the end of this one, as there was barely anything to keep me occupied, or that I cared about. I didn't care about the characters, the story or the outcomes and really, I just couldn't wait for it to be over. I'm really surprised that Fellini wrote this, as it seemed to lack the depth and uniqueness that I came to be used to from watching his films. I'm sick to death of war films and this one certainly didn't cure my ailment.

RATING: 3.5/10  The death of Pina and the execution of the priest were the few scenes that held my interest for, at least a little bit, so I'll give it a few notches. Otherwise, this one is something I'll probably never watch again. Next up for "Rossellini Week": "Paisan".

MOVIES WATCHED: 654
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 347

April 11, 2013  7:08pm

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