General Della Rovere (1959) User Reviews

Life during wartime

[stefano1488 · 8/10 · 1 June 2003]

I have little to add to what the first two commentators have written.

Rossellini has a penchant for melodrama and rhetoric, but, fortunately, he keeps this tendency for the most part in check in this case. This film is dry and sober, and yet touching in the way it describes the transformation of a petty swindler, who manages to survive by cheating those who are unlucky enough to have their loved ones arrested by the Nazis and try everything they can in order to save them from execution or deportation to Germany, into a man who realises that, when faced with the choice between right and wrong, he ultimately has to take sides. And, when the time comes, he will do what his conscience will tell him to do, even though this will mean his own death.

Vittorio De Sica is great, as usual, in this dramatic role as well as in his comic ones. Non-Italians may find interesting the fact that Vittorio De Sica was himself an unrepentant gambler in real life as well, to the point that, if I'm not mistaken, his dead left his family saddled with debts. The film also gives a good idea of what life was like for ordinary Italians under the German occupation between 1943 and 1945. Many had to make difficult choices in a confused situation, and they reacted differently. Some took sides and risks, on both sides; others tried to survive. Some came to accept humiliating compromises in order to save their loved ones from death (consider the character of Borghesio, the old, retired lawyer who mortgages his house in order to gather the money that is needed in order to buy the German officer responsible for choosing the prisoners who are bound to be sent to Germany as forced labourers, which often meant death, or of Ms Fassio, the wife who ends up humiliating herself in a desperate and vain attempt to rescue his husband and is torn between her inner contempt for the Nazis and the urge to do everything possible to save his husband). Some others tried to profit from the situation. Some others made different choices in different moments, sometimes cynical parasites, sometimes heroes. However, everyone faced dilemmas, often about their very survival.

an exceptional Italian film

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 14 September 2005]

Unlike some Italian films (such as several by Fellini), this is a very direct and approachable film for the average viewer--no symbolism, odd camera-work or surreal aspects at all. As such, it's a good film as an introduction to international cinema.

Vittorio De Sica does a marvelous job playing the role of a rogue who swindles money from desperate relatives seeking information and help about their loved ones held in Nazi jails in occupied Italy. Eventually, it all catches up to him and he is offered a chance to avoid a LONG jail term or even execution--he is to impersonate a general who is leading those Italians seeking to expel the Germans. It seems the Nazis accidentally killed this general when he was trying to escape and they wanted to PRETEND he was still alive in order to smoke out members of the resistance. At first, De Sica agrees but over time he has a hard time remaining so cynical and self-absorbed. His transformation seems believable--from a thief to a patriot and is well worth watching.

A very acclaimed movie featuring a top-notch acting by veteran actor/director Vittorio De Sica

[ma-cortes · 8/10 · 20 May 2021]

Concerning a WWII marketeer and swindler called Bardone : Vittorio De Sica , he often uses to disguise as an officer to get money from the the families of people put in prison by the Gestapo . Once trapped , the Nazis make a deal with him . Then he is forced by a Nazi Colonel Muller : Hannes Messerner to go undercover in a local jail. To find out who the resistance leader is , he poses as a General called Della Rovere . But when the inmates start looking him for guidance , it leads to tragic consequences . He's a Hero...or a Fake ?

This General Della la Rovere 1969 magnificently played by Vittorio De Sica as a petty con man deals with the fantastic wartime adventures and intrigues of the mountebank who held the fate of the fighting undergroung in his hands . Eventually , our hero finds the line between his assumed character and actual identity diminished , awakening his slumbering conscience, resulting in a dramatic conclusion . It contains an interesting and thought-provoking screenplay from Indro Montanelli , Sergio Amadei , Fabbri and Roberto Rossellini himself . Starring Vittorio De Sica is well accompanied by a good cast , such as : Hannes Messemer , Sandra Milo , Anne Vernon , Vittorio Caprioli , Giovanna Ralli , Franco Interlenghi , Linda Veras, Modugno, Luciano Pigozi or Allan Collins , among others.

There is another inferior version 2011 directed by Carlo Carlei starrred by Pierfrancesco Faviano and Shopov . Il Generale Della Rovere 1959 displays an evocative cinematography in black and white by Carlo Cardini . As well as atmospheric and sensitive musical score by Renzo Rossellini . The motion picture was stunningly directed by Roberto Rosselini . He was a prestigious writer and director, making notorious films, such as : "Paisan" , "The Miracle" , "Amore" , "Stromboli" , "The Flowers of St Francis" , "Europe" , " Voyage in Italy" , "Seven Deadly Sins" , "Blas Pascal", "The Rise of Louis XIV" , "Agustín of Hippo" , "The Messiah" , among others . Rating : 7.5/10. Above average, well worth seeing . Especially recommended for featuring a bravura lead interpretation by veteran Vittorio De Sica .

Those Chilling Moments Of Truth

[Pierre-Paris2 · 10/10 · 4 May 2007]

Roberto Rossellini, as a filmmaker, cannot be compared to anyone else. Not because of any camera technique but because his mind, to tell a story, took shortcuts through truly dangerous territories. The nervous center of the Italian human nature is dissected with fierceness, compassion and even a touch of admiration. Redemption coming in the most unexpected form as a last, final test. Who am I, really? Could I at the last moment of my life become the man I always wanted to be? Beautiful, poignant, terrifying. Vittorio De Sica gives one the best performances of his eclectic and extraordinary career. The traveling of his thoughts seem to come out of the screen with the same intensity as his real smallness, his fear, his painful self awareness. Truth, with all is uncomfortable connotations 24 frames a second.

A measured story of spiritual growth

[michaelj108 · 10/10 · 1 September 2008]

An understated masterpiece, this film charts the moral growth in nearly the worst of times of Victorio Grimaldi played by Vittorio De Sica. Other comments set out the main lines of the plot and note the excellence of de Sica as the not-good, but not all-bad, Grimaldi who is just trying to survive, like everyone else. But it evolves in a story of one man trying to live up to the expectations of others, who have had it even harder than he has. Planted in the prison to impersonate the heroic General della Rovere, Grimaldi slowly begins to act like the leader that Rovere was. In one touching scene, while under a terrifying bombardment, he cowers in his cell only to stiffen himself to shout out encouragement to the others, before collapsing in prayer and mortal dread. In this two or three minute episode we learn more about courage than from a score of action movies and thrillers. And of course Grimaldi learns something about himself, too, in a way, and also something about General della Rovere. Toward the end Grimaldi takes on the role of the now dead general so completely that he writes a letter to the general's wife encouraging her to persevere, while he willingly faces execution by the Germans to set an example to other Italians to resist. It is a powerful story of growth, self-realization, and redemption in terrible conditions, though there is also a hint of Italian patriotism, too. The film is hard to get but I managed it a few years ago on VHS, so seekers, persist! It is worth the effort.

A lifetime favorite.

[lewis_u · 10/10 · 7 March 1999]

Though I've only seen this film once, when I was actually young, it has remained one of my lifetime 'greatest' films. It deals with how each of us has a self image, and how that self image, and the lives we lead, may be influenced by how others view us. This is, I think, one of the great common themes of our lives - and this movie examines it beautifully. Though I saw it so long ago, I still remember it each time I see an example of its theme played out in today's events. Most notably, in the U.S., it has been shown in the direction that many (but not all) of our Supreme Court justices take once they receive their lifetime posts. Their thoughts, no matter how narrow they had been, become wider and wiser once that mantle of office settles onto their personalities. This great movie prepared me to see and understand this miraculous process - and others like it.

Appreciative blurb.

[ItalianGerry · 4 August 2001]

Winner of many top international festival prizes, this was one of Roberto Rossellini's most widely seen films in America after OPEN CITY and PAISAN. It is a superbly written, directed, and acted drama about a petty conniver, Bertone, alias Grimaldi, played by Vittorio De Sica in what is possibly his greatest acting role. He is not above loving people and swindling them at the same time. He does this to survive the hard times of Mussolini's Salo' Republic period. The film is set in Genoa after the Badoglio armistice has been signed with the Allies in the south. Bertone tries to help Italians who have relatives imprisoned by the Nazis. Sometimes he can help; other times he cannot but always takes their money. When his game is finally up, he is imprisoned but offered an opportunity by the Germans. He is to impersonate a revered partisan leader already killed by the Nazis in order to furnish them information on another partisan leader in the anti-fascist underground. It is at this point that Bertone gradually undergoes a transformation, choosing patriotism over capitulation. The con-man becomes a hero. Other standout performances here are given by Sandra Milo as a prostitute, Hannes Messemer as the Nazi commandant and Vittorio Caprioli as an inmate barber.

A film of deep personal and spiritual transformation that is rarely, if ever, seen in today's films (especially from Hollywood).

[rossangela · 10/10 · 24 October 2008]

I fully agree with all the glowing accolades of other commenters and totally disagree with the one commenter who thought it was "uneven." This is one of the greatest films ever made, partly because the humanity of the characters and the choices they must make are really what life is all about. If only present-day film makers (producers, directors, writers, etc) would concentrate their efforts towards making films of this caliber, what a much better world this would be. Instead, desiring profits over quality, they go for the lowest common denominator, and continue to make films bereft of the poetry of life, and full of gore, violence, guns, explosions, terror, and all sorts of ugliness and gratuitous noise. They think "this is what the public wants." How wrong they are. One interesting aside: I believe that Rosselini wasn't really as satisfied with this film as much as audiences are. If that rumor is true, it can only be an example of an artist not realizing the impact and importance of a particular work they have created.

Uneven

[zetes · 6/10 · 21 July 2002]

Vittorio de Sica stars as a petty gambler and con artist near the end of the Second World War. His gambling losses are so bad that he has to swindle friends for money; oftentimes he does so with the promise of freeing imprisoned loved ones (and sometimes he even succeeds at doing so). One swindle goes wrong, and the victim informs the Nazis of what De Sica is doing. Instead of simply imprisoning him, they make a deal: if in prison he poses as General della Rovere, who was killed in an escape attempt, and root out a certain partisan leader, they will pay him off and ship him to Switzerland. De Sica is no great man, but he is also no spy. But, initially, he does what the Nazis tell him to do. This film should probably be much better than it is, but it just lacks the passion of Rossellini's earlier films. Sure, they were overly melodramatic, but I don't think the way to fix them is flatten out all the emotions of the film. Rossellini did make a nearly perfect film after his strictly neorealistic period in Stromboli, and General della Rovere, a decade later, is a huge step in the wrong direction. There are a few excellent scenes, but nowhere near enough. It helps that it ends so well. It certainly hinders the project that the whole swindling part of the film lasts for almost half the film, at around an hour. De Sica's character isn't very consistent between the two halves, either. Blame that on the script, though, because De Sica is generally great throughout the entire film. Sandra Milo, who would later co-star in Fellini's 8½ and Juliette of the Spirits, has a small role. 6/10.

Underrated gem

[rakeshroy31 · 10/10 · 13 January 2020]

I was astounded watching this movie. It is less known compared to Rossellini's war trilogy ... but it left a deeper impact on me. One of the best anti war movies ever made .. helped by a towering performance by De Sica ...

Solid

[Cosmoeticadotcom · 7/10 · 29 July 2009]

Il Generale Della Rovere was one of Roberto Rossellini's most successful films (winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival), commercially, and there is a simple reason why. It's not that good a film. It's a rather formulaic film, slathered with faux patriotic sloganeering, whitewashed politics, and a rather banal cinematic approach. Rossellini was, along with the film's star, Vittorio De Sica, one of the two big name directors of what was known as Italian Neo-Realism. But, while 1945's Rome: Open City was also a financial success for Rossellini, he went almost fifteen years between that success and this one, in 1959. De Sica, however, had more commercial and critical success in the interim.

The film's plot is supposedly based on real life events that took place in World War Two, after Italy switched sides, leaving the Axis and joining the Allies. However, there has been dispute, among historians, over whether the tale is true or not, and just how much of the tale, if true, is apocryphal, or the result of hagiography, because it was based on a novel by Indro Montanelli. The tale follows the life of a petty conman named Victorio Emanuele Bardone (De Sica), who uses a bunch of assorted aliases (including that of a phony Italian colonel named Grimaldi) to run his assorted scams and schemes, fleecing attractive women (wannabe actresses and prostitutes) and desperate families who are willing to pay him for information on the whereabouts of relatives who have been arrested by the Nazis. The black and white film runs for 2 hours and 13 minutes, and the first 45 or so minutes follows the escapades of Bardone, and watching him gamble and lose, fleece his suckers, and generally act in unethical ways, is the best part of the film. Especially good is watching him interact with a Nazi colonel named Muller (Hannes Messemer), for both men are essentially the same person, phonies who are out to wreak havoc in the world. The one difference is that Muller actually has fangs, and is willing to use them, whereas Bardone lacks the fangs and the will.

This is one of those films that I can marginally recommend viewing, if only because it illuminates the better work being done at the same time, like Fellini's La Dolce Vita. On its own, however, Il Generale Della Rovere is vastly overrated and a disappointing film in not only Rossellini's canon, but that of Italian cinema, despite its financial success. Hollywood was not alone in this regard. Why it was so critically well regarded, however, is a mystery, since its flaws are apparent. Then, again, never underestimate the power of patriotic screeds, especially when the legend looms larger than the man. Damn, I didn't know Rossellini loved John Ford.

Well-deserved acclaim

[jacksflicks · 9/10 · 24 October 2010]

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!

Superb acting, but...

[jackmathys · 7/10 · 30 January 2019]

Like mice on a wheel-all talk, no action. Talking is like breathing, what is exhaled is useless hot air.

Overlong and overindulgent

[timothywalton-31924 · 5/10 · 21 December 2023]

The reason why Rossellini's films have not appealed to me much is perhaps best exemplified by General Della Rovere. It is a languidly paced, deeply flawed film. The opening of the film is monstrously overlong, taking a full hour to set the conman background for our main character when any other sensible film would have done so in 15 minutes. Rossellini also has a tendency to overindulge in his trademark Neorealist scenes, with many shots of ordinary Italians in the gritty streets of wartime Italy, but these scenes are entirely unnecessary and do not contribute at all to plot, character, or even atmosphere. The plot also has many other deficiencies. If essentially tells the tale of a command transformation to become a resistance hero, but the truth is that he never really does. De Sicas conman shows no act of bravery or no viable change of heart- all events, from his being tortured to his execution are thrust upon him, imposed on him. The film also lacks urgency and pace, and what remains is a dialogue heavy slog. General della rovere contains zero suspense, zero thrills despite its plot outline, nor does it contain much drama. It is a great disappointment.

Fascinating left-wing WWII movie

[oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx · 9/10 · 17 July 2011]

The story of the film concerns "Colonelo" Bertone a self-appointed community intercessor and thief in World War II Italy, passing on bribes from families to the Germans in order to help their sons (or gambling away the bribes and eating their food parcels). It's definitely a film of two halves, the first half of the movie to me feeling decidedly Pasolinian. Bertone, though undoubtedly a scoundrel does his best to keep people happy, is a character that spreads a certain amount of charm in the world. For some people who have never known love or had anyone to look up to, he provides a show, his charisma is like ambrosia. Having been brought up with Protestant vales it has been a revelation to me in life how people value charm as most precious, a Veblen good, more prized when it is most demanding, how a charming person is valued above all others even when they live in a moral vacuum.

The second half of the movie is, in structure, a more conventional prison movie where Bertone, working for the Germans in order to save his skin, becomes an impostor pretending to be Generale della Rovere. Whilst pretending to be the general he begins to assume many of the general's characteristics. This part of the film is very patriotic, and contains a beautiful fresco of Italian cities on the prison wall. The ideology of this part of the movie is all about recognising the efforts of the largely Communist, Partito d'Azione and Socialist partisan resistance, bodies who were largely excluded from the post-fascist Italian government, which was dominated by the Christian Democrats, who many felt to have been tainted by association with fascism.

Pontecorvo's movie Kapò was released contemporaneously, and features a similarly caricatured version of the Teutonic gaoler and slightly ebullient view of World War II, that would become refined in future decades. That said, Il Generale della Rovere, is undoubtedly a masterpiece.

Personal Power During World War II, by Patti Morey

[sawthecomet · 10/10 · 18 March 2020]

We see characters that are all naturally magnificent, in and of themselves, including most vividly the horse. The Italians each have their own personal power. The horse is at once powerful for its magnificent beauty, and he is able to "play" dead. The little girl, too, is magnificently beautiful, a classic vision of a child. The beautiful high class prostitutes are magnificent in their dress and lovely feminine behavior, naturally powerful: They have always been powerful. And the gentleman - he is not only handsome, intelligent, sexy, friendly, amicable, and very caring, everybody's friend - he has a great personal power that enables him to walk freely through the streets. However, there are now and then jarring Nazi-encounter reminders now and then of how fragile, near illusory his power now actually is become - but it is remarkable that power he has to walk freely, right from the start and even through the Nazi-occupied offices.. Meanwhile we see the Nazis' "power" is not from within, but is entirely dependent upon their higher-ups, their regime; ttheir "magnificence" residing solely in the buttons and boots of their smart uniforms; he Nazis are for the most part immoral, of little inherent virtue in relation to non-Nazi humane humanity, i.e.: they think nothing of shooting Italian citizens as they drive by., So, the gentleman appears as normally a powerful man, who now is in need of money, and thus endeavors to use his power to free people's imprisoned relatives and friends for a living, and is absolutely awesome for what he is able to do, but is repeatedly confronted by his powerlessness, such as in the forms of the Nazi guy at the office, having to try to get the top officer to be friendly, or at similarly human enough to offer a cigarette, etc., but they are just not quite human, exemplified by the bizarre otherworldly hairdo of the turned-friendly young woman at the office who gives him sugar. So many excellent human beings lost their personal power and inherent magnificence to a crazed form of government imposed upon them. The gentleman's power would appear to have been stripped from him when he is imprisoned, but it shines forth, as from the other prisoners as well, in their humanity toward each other. Moreover, the role he must play enables his personal power to shine and grow, despite the prisoner's helplessness. For, in fact, like the horse, he rises back up to his feet to show he has always been powerful, in and of himself. btw - the only version of this movie i could find was in Italian, which i don't know, but the movie itself, i promise you, conveys everything. also, i just love that one kindly guard who grew to love the General, and the gentleman.

Two neorealists for the price of one

[tieman64 · 19 July 2011]

Roberto Rossellini directs fellow neorealist Vittorio De Sica in "General della Rovere".

De Sica – we forget how much of a suave, handsome actor the director was - plays Emanuele Bardone, a lowly con man struggling to make ends meet in 1940s, war-torn Genoa. His modus operandi? Promise his fellow Italians that he can find their missing loved ones in exchange for money. He prostitutes World War 2, and profits on the suffering of his countrymen.

It's not long, though, before Bardone is reprimanded by the German Army and forced to impersonate a dead partisan general. His mission? Enter a prison and extract information from fellow inmates regarding the identity and location of an Italian Resistance fighter. Bardone does as told – he's a schemer who does whatever it takes to survive – but eventually undergoes a crisis of conscience. He then betrays the Germans and accepts his fate.

The majority of Rossellini's more well known films are sentimental, and "General della Rovere", which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, is no different. Though he holds his cast at an distance, content to let their actions do the talking, Rossellini's unusually austere aesthetic (classical camera work, gorgeous, inky blacks and whites) is nevertheless perfectly in line with most neorealist works, which, far from being a "gritty" movement, always sanctified the downtrodden and venerated the lowly. "General della Rovere" does the same, exalting Bardone as a fallen angel who eventually finds redemption.

Most interesting about the film is the Nazi Colonel who recruits Bardone. He's played with nuance by Hannes Messemer, a real life German Colonel. In contrast, De Sica's character takes on the attributes of your typical movie Nazi; suave, debonair, amoral and coolly calculating.

8/10 - "General della Rovere" was a critical and box office success upon release, but it's lesser Rosselini, formulaic and easy. Worth one viewing.