Rome, Open City

Even if you have seen this great classic many times, a re-viewing is demanded by this 4K restoration. Few films are as central to the history of cinema as Roberto Rossellini's masterpiece ("all roads lead to Roma città aperta," Godard said): not only did it introduce the world to a revolutionary new film movement (neorealism), but also to a major new dramatic actress, Anna Magnani. Shot in the war-torn streets of Rome, using remnants of film stock and relying on erratic electricity, the film focuses on a resistance leader who, fleeing the Gestapo, takes refuge with an ally and his pregnant fiancée (Magnani). While much has been made of Rossellini's use of natural light, actual locations and non-professional actors, it has long been noted that the film is strange as a standard bearer of neorealism: many of the performances are stylized, the plot often melodramatic, and the depiction of the Nazis and their collaborators is a prime example of the leftist Italian cinema's insistent connection between "sexual deviance" and Fascism. Nevertheless, whether appreciated as an emotional tour de force.