A family of Italian farmers have been helping escaped War prisoners by hiding them in their storage cellar-a Russian, an Englishman and an American, and convince a group of nuns too take them off their hands and drop them in the countryside which results in the youngest of them (who actually isn't a nun) hiding them in her home. They work together to hide from the German occupied Rome, and that creates a meaningful friendship between these foreigners and the locales who show their hospitality and ultimately their Christianity in a very warm way.
Giovanna Ralli, a veteran Italian actress (not as well known as Loren, Lollibrigida or Magnani), is very good, tough but warm, independent but romantic, and doing whatever it takes during World War II to stay alive yet maintain her integrity, fighting for a cause she greatly believes in. Leo Gann as the Brit, Peter Baldwin as the Yank and Sergei Bondarchuk as the Russian are all excellent in a film that really shows the desire for promoting an international human understanding that gives a beautiful account of a humanity fighting for a cause against their leader's desires and represents the post-Mussolini Italy which had fallen into Nazi hands.
Under the direction of one of italy's greatest directors (Roberto Rossellini), this film is beautifully done, heard in Italian, English and a little bit of Russian, and is one of the great post-war films about the war. It's more of a human story than a war story, showing how people from around the world have more in common than they think with their desires for freedom and the ability to lead their lives free of fascism and outside control. The opening scene with the nuns is very funny as they barter for goods, utilizing that old and well utilized tool of guilt to get what is needed, yet allowing the farmers, living in fear of discovery. I assumed that the two elderly nuns were simply in disguise as well as the Germans guarding the road between Rome and the countryside didn't question them. An excellent film that is heartwarming in its theme of survival during a time of international crisis.
Giovanna Ralli, a veteran Italian actress (not as well known as Loren, Lollibrigida or Magnani), is very good, tough but warm, independent but romantic, and doing whatever it takes during World War II to stay alive yet maintain her integrity, fighting for a cause she greatly believes in. Leo Gann as the Brit, Peter Baldwin as the Yank and Sergei Bondarchuk as the Russian are all excellent in a film that really shows the desire for promoting an international human understanding that gives a beautiful account of a humanity fighting for a cause against their leader's desires and represents the post-Mussolini Italy which had fallen into Nazi hands.
Under the direction of one of italy's greatest directors (Roberto Rossellini), this film is beautifully done, heard in Italian, English and a little bit of Russian, and is one of the great post-war films about the war. It's more of a human story than a war story, showing how people from around the world have more in common than they think with their desires for freedom and the ability to lead their lives free of fascism and outside control. The opening scene with the nuns is very funny as they barter for goods, utilizing that old and well utilized tool of guilt to get what is needed, yet allowing the farmers, living in fear of discovery. I assumed that the two elderly nuns were simply in disguise as well as the Germans guarding the road between Rome and the countryside didn't question them. An excellent film that is heartwarming in its theme of survival during a time of international crisis.