Italy in late 1943: Three Allied prisoners of war, one British, one American, one Russian, escape and hide from the German and Italian fascist troops in Rome, helped by a young Roman couple, Esperia and her communist fiancé Renato. Shortly after secretly celebrating Christmas together, Esperia, Renato and Russian Sergeant Nazukov are arrested by German troops, denounced by fascist collaborator Tarcisio. Nazukov is shot during the arrest, and Renato tortured and later executed. Major Pemberton and Lieutenant Bradley first find shelter in the house of Prince Antoniani and later in the Catholic convent of Don Valerio. Bradley leaves with intent to join the American troops in the South, while Pemberton stays at the convent until the priests are denounced by Tarcisio for hiding fugitives in their midst. Pemberton returns to Esperia's flat, who grieves over Renato's death. When the German troops leave Rome due to the advancing Allies, Tarcisio shows up at Esperia's apartment to talk her into coming with him to the North. Esperia pours boiling water over Tarcisio, and Pemberton kills him. Afterwards, they confess their deed to Don Valerio. Esperia accuses herself of being a spy as well, because she denounced Pemberton and Bradley to save Renato. From the building's roof, Esperia, Pemberton and Don Valerio watch the Allied troops enter Rome.
A version trimmed down to 114 minutes was released in Italian cinemas on 7 October 1960.[1] The French release followed in 1961[7] with a running time of approximately 140 minutes.[a] International versions of the film ran approximately 145 minutes.[3][5][9] According to film historians Mira Liehm and Peter Bondanella, the film was both commercially and artistically unsuccessful, resulting in Rossellini turning exclusively to television.[10][11] The film had its New York premiere not until 9 April 1982.[5]
Home media
A DVD edition containing both the International cinema version and the original full length version which had been screened at the Cannes Film Festival was released in Italy in 2008.[12] DVDs of the cinema version have also been released in the U.S. and in the U.K.[13]
Awards
Special Jury Mentions at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for director Roberto Rossellini and actress Giovanna Ralli[6]
Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival for Best Actress Giovanna Ralli[2]
Notes
^Ulrich Döge states a running time of 140 minutes of the French version,[7] while the version screened at the Cinémathèque Française in 2006 reportedly ran 136.[8]
References
^ abcdeForgacs, David; Lutton, Sarah; Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, eds. (2019). Roberto Rossellini: Magician of the Real. Bloomsbury. p. 186.
^ abc"Night Over Rome". San Francisco International Film Festival. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
^ abcWillis, John A. (1983). Screen World. Vol. 34. Crown publishers. p. 202.
^ abGansera, Rainer (1997). Roberto Rossellini. Österreichisches Filmmuseum. p. 4.
^ abDöge, Ulrich (2009). Barbaren mit humanen Zügen: Bilder des Deutschen in Filmen Roberto Rossellinis. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. p. 302. ISBN9783868211726.
