Just as the "Modern Emotion Trilogy" in 1960s made antonioni famous, Rossini's "War Trilogy" also made him famous in the Italian film industry after World War II.

Rome, an unguarded city is the first part of the war trilogy, and it is also regarded as the pioneering work of new realism.

Before watching a movie, we must first understand a concept: undefended.

The so-called undefended city is a city without military defense and facilities in wartime.

Rome during World War II was such an unguarded city.

On the eve of the end of World War II, the Germans occupied Rome and declared Rome undefended city in the name of protecting historical sites: that is, Italians were not allowed to carry out armaments in this city, so that Germany could control it at will.

The film "Rome, an unguarded city" tells the story of some underground party member and ordinary people who stayed in Italy during the period from 1943 to 1944, and fought bravely with the Germans who occupied their country and acted recklessly.

The protagonist is Manfeiti, the leader of an underground resistance organization. His cover identity is an engineer, and other roles and events revolve around this core figure.

During Manfeiti's pursuit by the Germans, his friend Francisco and his fiancee Pi Na provided him with temporary shelter and necessary help, while another Catholic priest, Don Pietro, acted as a middleman between Manfeiti and other guerrillas when his movement was restricted.

Finally, in the confrontation with the German army, Pi Na, Manfiti and the priest all died heroically.

Today, such a story may be very old-fashioned, especially after we have seen many anti-Japanese war movies and TV plays, we think this film is boring and the picture quality is rough.

But it is such a film that has always been regarded as the pioneering work of neo-realism.

We must first understand what new realism is.

To sum up briefly: Neo-realism is the product of modernist thoughts gradually bred in the process of anti-fascism. Neo-realistic films mainly refer to 1945 ~ 195 1 rising Italian films.

There are two main types of Italian films in 1930s-1940s: romantic melodrama and comedy, and entertainment was the normal state of Italian films at that time. This is related to the Italian government's vigorous support for the film industry in response to the Great Depression.

An Italian writer complained at 1930: "Why didn't the film inspired by the great fascist revolution come into being here?"

In fact, entertainment films have long covered up many practical problems, especially in that era of political turmoil.

The free development of Italian films with the support of policies has prompted some young and thoughtful directors to join in. Influenced by modernist literature and art, these young generations began to advocate returning to traditional Italian naturalism.

At the same time, film critics also called on the director to show the hardships of ordinary people in real life environment with movies. Many of these critics with a sense of mission later picked up cameras and became directors themselves.

Thus, when the 1945 war ended, the spring came in Italy, and people from all walks of life were eager to break the old ways. As a force for cultural revival and social change, the new realistic film rose.

The film expected by Italian writers was born.

1945 just after the war, Rome, an unguarded city was put into filming. In fact, the script was conceived during the war.

However, due to the influence of the war, Rome, a city of history and art, was seriously damaged. The once prosperous Italian film industry also suffered heavy losses, and the film city in the suburbs of Rome was also destroyed.

Without financial support, perfect facilities and large-scale studios, Rossini encountered many difficulties at the beginning of filming, and even the films used for shooting were bought on the black market.

It is under such environmental pressure that directors have taken to the streets with cameras to record the tragic life of ordinary people in Italy after the war with the most authentic images.

Real-life shooting is one of the important features of new realistic movies.

Therefore, you can see documentary scenes in the movie Rome, an unguarded city.

In order to reflect the reality more truly and objectively, or perhaps because we can't find a more professional actor, this film is all played by non-professional actors except a few protagonists.

These non-professional actors are ordinary people who suffered from the war, and their experience of facing the Nazis is vivid and vivid.

So you can see the truest expression in the movie "Rome, an unguarded city", which is a true expression that can be expressed without deliberate expression.

Moreover, you will find that close-ups are rarely used in this film, because the facilities are not perfect, which makes the picture rough and grainy, and close-ups will make the film look less exquisite.

Therefore, the director used the medium shot and the long shot as much as possible, which is also a feature of the new realistic film.

And many scenes are exterior scenes, and some interior scenes are Rossini's studio built in the basement.

It is this rough and grainy image that makes this film have the style of newsreel.

With the end of the 1948 Italian Spring, the national economic situation has improved and people's lives have become increasingly stable. People no longer pay more attention to this kind of film that examines and criticizes the practical significance, and instead pursue Hollywood-style films with strong entertainment.

As a result, the momentum of the neo-realism movement is getting weaker and weaker.

After that, the neo-realism films gradually degenerated into various types, and antonioni was the representative of the art films that gradually grew up after the neo-realism movement.

The History of World Cinema makes an in-depth analysis of Pi Na's death in Rome, an unguarded city, in order to illustrate the critical examination of neo-realism on wartime.

Pi Na is the fiancee of Manfiti's friend Francesco, and her intersection with Manfiti only provides him with a hiding place.

If Pi Na is the heroine of this movie, have you ever seen the heroine die suddenly in the middle of the movie? If Pi Na is not the heroine, but besides her, what other woman's scene and the significance of her existence can compare with her?

More importantly, the actor who plays Pi Na is one of the few professional actors.

When her fiance, Francesco, was captured by the Germans to cover Manfeiti's escape, Pina broke away from the Germans and pursued her. She ran alone in the street, shouting her fiance's name and running after the car with emotion. Then, unfortunately, Pi Na was hit and fell to the ground.

This scene should be the most touching place for the film.

Although the film creates a suspense atmosphere from the beginning, there are also humorous comedy details. It was not until we witnessed the death of Pi Na, an ordinary citizen, that we realized what kind of pain and disaster this terrible war had brought to people!

Maybe we will think that Pi Na is too stupid. What's the point of her catching up with her husband when he is caught? Didn't you ruin your life in vain in the end?

Here, Pi Na is no longer a person, she represents the whole ordinary people devastated by war, and her fierce resistance is the resistance of occupied Rome.

Rossini's handling technique was adopted by later war movies.

At the end of the scene, the children, represented by Masero, bowed their heads and witnessed the priest's heroic sacrifice, and silently returned to Rome along the street. This scene was endowed with a bright future and hope for Rome.

Neo-realism has no declaration or plan. It just calls for stronger realism, emphasizing contemporary themes and working-class life.

Rossini once said: "For me, the most important thing of neo-realism is to look at the world from a moral standpoint, and then aesthetics. Its beginning is morality. "

After Rome, an unguarded city, was released, Rossini said, "That's what happened! )

And this sentence later became the motto of the new realism movement!