As great as Open City was, I think I like this one better because of its element of redemption. Also, I must confess I like that Rossellini has largely dispensed with his trademark neo-realism in favor of a more conventional narrative style. Instead of being on location, in the streets, most of his shots here are on sets, once even resorting to rather cheesy process shots. Otherwise, his sets are so well done, that I assumed, for example, that a cavernous prison block was real rather than constructed. Rossellini has thus created a play without being stagy.
And the acting! Of course, this is Vittorio De Sica's movie. De Sica was larger than life, and Rossellini worked at governing the bombast. In fact, De Sica's distinguished stature -- silver mane and powerful build -- kept me from getting right into his Bardone character as a weasel. But perhaps it was that stature that allowed Bardone to carry out his scams. And it certainly helped the plausibility of someone like Bardone's becoming someone like Il Generale.
Neglected in the reviews is the wonderful performance of Hannes Messemer as Colonel Müller. Another reviewer says that Müller had "fangs". In fact, Rossellini makes an effort to reveal how much Müller loathes the ruthless part of his work, first seeking to prevent reprisals, then, when he is alone, expressing frank distaste after being overruled by German command. Even when he is saddled with the cliché line, "We have ways of making you talk," he is far from a caricature. Then we are brought back to the reality of Müller's SS uniform by his remorseless treatment of Jews.
Concerning the controversy... Italy imposed stringent political correctness on discussion of Italy's conduct in World War II. As the excellent documentary in the Criterion Edition points out, Rossellini could not have made Generale della Rovere ten years earlier, when criticism of Italians on the home front was a punishable offense. The story Italians told about themselves depended on which way the wind was blowing. After the war, everybody was an anti-fascist. (Just like the French, as revealed by Marcel Ophül's great documentary The Sorrow and the Pity.) A climactic scene in Generale della Rovere occurs when one who sought during the occupation to go along to get along -- not Bardone, who by now had changed -- was brought to book.
An interesting note from the Criterion documentary: This is a true story, based on the real-life Bardone, named Bertone, who impersonated a Generale della Rovere. The story was first told as a novel, by a prison-mate of Bertone's, Indro Montanelli, who escaped. Though there is torture by the Germans in the movie, Montanelli says that the Germans never used torture, only the Italians. To me this was a shocker, making me wonder if, despite the monumental criminality of the Germans in World War II, the stock scenes we grow up with, of the "We have ways of making you talk" variety, are exaggerations and if so, to what degree.
Playing the impostor, even in the face of death, is a familiar story. Dickens' Tale of Two Cities comes to mind. Arthur Miller's Incident at Vichy is a similar tale. In fact, I see Kurosawa's Kagemusha as a retelling of Generale della Rovere, though Kurosawa strenuously denied it. Perhaps becoming the man you impersonate is simply a universal theme.
Anyway, this one's a masterpiece. See it!
And the acting! Of course, this is Vittorio De Sica's movie. De Sica was larger than life, and Rossellini worked at governing the bombast. In fact, De Sica's distinguished stature -- silver mane and powerful build -- kept me from getting right into his Bardone character as a weasel. But perhaps it was that stature that allowed Bardone to carry out his scams. And it certainly helped the plausibility of someone like Bardone's becoming someone like Il Generale.
Neglected in the reviews is the wonderful performance of Hannes Messemer as Colonel Müller. Another reviewer says that Müller had "fangs". In fact, Rossellini makes an effort to reveal how much Müller loathes the ruthless part of his work, first seeking to prevent reprisals, then, when he is alone, expressing frank distaste after being overruled by German command. Even when he is saddled with the cliché line, "We have ways of making you talk," he is far from a caricature. Then we are brought back to the reality of Müller's SS uniform by his remorseless treatment of Jews.
Concerning the controversy... Italy imposed stringent political correctness on discussion of Italy's conduct in World War II. As the excellent documentary in the Criterion Edition points out, Rossellini could not have made Generale della Rovere ten years earlier, when criticism of Italians on the home front was a punishable offense. The story Italians told about themselves depended on which way the wind was blowing. After the war, everybody was an anti-fascist. (Just like the French, as revealed by Marcel Ophül's great documentary The Sorrow and the Pity.) A climactic scene in Generale della Rovere occurs when one who sought during the occupation to go along to get along -- not Bardone, who by now had changed -- was brought to book.
An interesting note from the Criterion documentary: This is a true story, based on the real-life Bardone, named Bertone, who impersonated a Generale della Rovere. The story was first told as a novel, by a prison-mate of Bertone's, Indro Montanelli, who escaped. Though there is torture by the Germans in the movie, Montanelli says that the Germans never used torture, only the Italians. To me this was a shocker, making me wonder if, despite the monumental criminality of the Germans in World War II, the stock scenes we grow up with, of the "We have ways of making you talk" variety, are exaggerations and if so, to what degree.
Playing the impostor, even in the face of death, is a familiar story. Dickens' Tale of Two Cities comes to mind. Arthur Miller's Incident at Vichy is a similar tale. In fact, I see Kurosawa's Kagemusha as a retelling of Generale della Rovere, though Kurosawa strenuously denied it. Perhaps becoming the man you impersonate is simply a universal theme.
Anyway, this one's a masterpiece. See it!