Friday, March 28, 2014
How Real is Rome?
Rome, Open City is generally viewed as the first (or the first celebrated) example of Italian neo-realism, a movement know for an almost documentary-like style that included shooting on location, utilizing non-professional actors, and telling ordinary stories about ordinary, working class people. Yet, Rome sometimes violates these rules. Many of the most important scenes are filmed in a studio that devised an intricate set for the Gestapo office, torture room, and officer's club. Some of the most important actors -- Aldo Fabrizi (Don Pietro) and Anna Magnani (Pina)-- are established actors (although in comic roles). Furthermore there are elements of melodrama in the characters and plot, such as the portrayal of the Gestapo officers are cruel and sexually perverted. Is this truly an example of "realism"? Or is it something else?
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While Rossellini's Rome, Open City doesn't follow the nearly unrealistic definition of Neorealism to the letter, it did set the bar for a new style of film due to the drastic differences between it and prior works. Never before had audiences seen actors in "real life" situations. They lacked glitzy makeup, expected acting skill, and the safety of a set. Sure, there are exceptions as Doc I lists above; however, these don't alter the film's style or message nearly enough to take away from its accomplishments in the realm of Neorealism. Rossellini wanted to make a film that showed the genuine view of the Italian people and it would be hard to argue that he didn't accomplish that feat in Rome, Open City. In film, a director inevitably leaves his footprint on his work, just like an author has a specific writing style in a novel. Sometimes the director chooses to stretch the bounds of typical life in order to emphasize a point. By planting some melodramatic scenes in Rome, Open City, Rossellini isn't taking away from his Neorealistic roots; instead he is enhancing the films most significant qualities. He surrounds his main, inexperienced actors with professionals in order to amplify the genuine qualities of the more important characters. By planting these identifiably professional actors, Rossellini allows the viewer to connect more authentically with the lesser experienced main characters and he makes the movie more real, which was always his desired outcome. While it didn't follow the typical rules of Neorealism to the letter, Rome, Open City transcended the typical bounds of film anyway due to its stylistic advances in the movie world.
ReplyDeleteThis film is absolutely a form of Italian “realism” despite professional actors and a studio set. Almost ever film is going to contain aspects and themes that are true to real life, but are altered for artistic and dramatic purposes. For many new types of cinema it is important for the director, actors and crew to have a basic understanding of pervious styles of cinema in order to capitalize on the good aspects, be aware of the bad and find a way to make their new statement the most affective. Since Rome Open City is the first film in the Italian neo-realism movement it is not surprising that professionals created it, because their experience made it easier to create this new sub genre of film. Many will argue that this film is more dramatic than real life and much of what happened is glamourized for film, I would agree with this, but I would still argue Rome Open City is a realistic movie. This film takes some of the most prominent and important themes that existed in post WWII Italy and showed them in a way that people would find interesting and worth watching. The loss of life, mood and struggle of Italy was portrayed very honestly in the background and the foreground called attention to these issues. Without some dramatization this film would be painful, slow and depressing. As for the sets I’m assuming it is not very easy to stroll into a former Nazi interrogation room and just start filming so it would be an unrealistic goal and expectation. This film was affected by the state of Italy when it was filmed, which influences the realistic quality of the film i.e limited amount of film so limited amount of takes.
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ReplyDeleteFor the most part, Rome, Open City does in fact reflect many factors of a neo-realist film, regardless of some of the synthetic aspects of the film. To begin, the film can be heavily classified as neo-realist because of the style the film was produced with. The actors in the film, besides from a few lead roles are in fact ordinary people without any prior theatric experience; those who understand the role of an Italian lower-middle class citizen during this time period. Second, the production of the film was largely realistic and reflected the struggles of a Nazi-occupied Italy. The physical material needed to put images down and made into film was very scarce; therefore the production staff had to work with imperfection. Not all shots were able to be redone if they were improperly completed the first time, nor was sound always to the quality that they would have liked because of on-site production. It is noticeable during the film that the words are often just a bit off with the actors lip movements which shows this editing trick of doing an audio track in the post production phase of editing. In addition to these aspects of realism that occurred off camera, the film largely is a realistic statement of the harsh conditions of the war. The atrocities inflicted upon the working class Italians accurately exhibits the realistic war conditions of the time. The combination of off camera events and those on camera illustrate a realistic film that is quite accurate in its depiction of conditions at the time. The only exaggerations that would call into the question the legitimacy of the realism in the film would be those of the SS officers being overly ruthless and showing complete lack of concern for human life; largely illustrated through the torture and execution scenes. Overall, the realistic aspects of the film outnumber greatly the synthetic elements, but more importantly they are more instrumental to the film’s depiction. In other words, the film focuses on the neorealist elements rather than glorifying those of a falsified nature.
I believe that Rome, Open City is one hundred percent an Italian Realism film even though the film used professional actors and took advantage of some set use. For groundbreaking films such as Rome the viewer has to take into account in film as a whole. For, a few lapses do not ruin the film’s style. Rome is considered one of the first Italian Realism films, so the director was able to make the rules himself. As a whole the movie is shot on location in Rome, using mostly non-professional actors, and embracing the on the run shooting style. The viewer can see aspects of the location filming in the film, when at points the ambient noise of the cars and pedestrians becomes very loud and threatens to overpower the voices of the actors. Also many of the actors are living the lives of the characters that they are playing in the film. This element adds a special feel to the style of the film. The on the run shooting style becomes visible in some shots in the film where small mistakes were made. Instead of fixing them the producer kept them in the film. Supplies were short during the filming of the film and also because small mistakes show that the film was not perfect, for neither is real life. The main area when Rome strays from the template of realism is the use of a set for the Gestapo offices. Though it becomes evident that it was needed to use a set for that portion of them film. As Christina said, “it is not very easy to stroll into a former Nazi interrogation room and just start filming”. Therefore I can overlook the set use and still consider Rome to be a realism style of film.
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