--- title: "Rome, Open City" year: 1945 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/rome-open-city" fi1m_score: 89 critics_score: 92 critics_reviews: 10 published: "2026-09-16T12:13:49.518285+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T12:14:04.316189+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Rome, Open City (1945) Directed by Roberto Rossellini · 1h 44m · Drama, War **Fi1m score: 89** · Critics 92 from 10 reviews *In a sentence:* A war film with the good sense to let Anna Magnani be annoyed > Roberto Rossellini’s war drama remains frightening because its people are such good company. Anna Magnani gives it warmth and temper; the villains and the music sometimes insist too much, but the suffering is hard to shake. ## Synopsis Rome is under Nazi occupation, and resistance depends on connections between people whose daily lives continue around the danger. Pina (Anna Magnani), Giorgio Manfredi aka Luigi Ferraris (Marcello Pagliero) and Don Pietro Pellegrini (Aldo Fabrizi) are caught up in that struggle. They need to help one another across political and religious differences, while the occupying forces work to crush opposition. Domestic concerns and everyday humour persist alongside the resistance, as the threat of repression reaches into civilian life and makes helping a neighbour a dangerous undertaking. ## Review *Rome, Open City* is a moving, often frightening war drama, with one persistent fault: Roberto Rossellini sometimes tells us too firmly what to feel. He approaches the German occupation of Rome through the lives it crowds and threatens. Resistance involves people who still have daily concerns and the capacity to find one another funny. That gives the danger a particular force, because we are allowed to enjoy their company without the film making enjoyment seem indecent. The screenplay by Sergio Amidei, Roberto Rossellini and Federico Fellini gives political and religious convictions room beside those daily concerns. The differences between people matter, but they need not prevent anyone from helping. Aldo Fabrizi plays Don Pietro Pellegrini with a comic ease that lets us take the priest’s convictions seriously without spending every scene in respectful silence. His performance helps the film move between laughter and seriousness, and supplies some welcome relief from the more emphatic writing elsewhere. Anna Magnani is the strongest reason these everyday lives feel so difficult to dismiss. Her Pina has a temper as well as warmth, and the irritation is funny without being softened into something ingratiating. We laughed at her impatience, then found ourselves worrying about her; she had become someone whose company we wanted to keep. The performance stays lively even when the surrounding drama becomes more solemn, and Pina never feels obliged to be consistently agreeable. Ubaldo Arata’s cinematography keeps the streets present around the people, making danger seem difficult to escape even beyond the immediate action. The location work has an untidy, exposed quality that suits a story about lives under constant pressure. Rosario Megna’s production design supports that impression by making the surroundings feel inhabited and used. We believe that people belong in these places, and the roughness of the images helps the occupation feel like an intrusion into somewhere that already matters. The editing by Eraldo Da Roma and Jolanda Benvenuti preserves the uneasy movement between humour and danger. A comic passage is allowed enough time to be enjoyed, and the return to fear can feel disconcertingly abrupt. Renzo Rossellini’s music is more insistent, and we sometimes wanted it to leave the performances alone. An ordinary exchange can already make us care about someone; the musical emphasis occasionally presses an emotion that the actors have conveyed quite sufficiently. The same insistence weakens some of the character writing. Harry Feist’s Major Fritz Bergmann is effective as a threat, but there is less to discover in him than in the civilians. The moral divisions are clear enough without so many dramatic choices reinforcing them, and the melodrama can make evil feel too readily identifiable. Roberto Rossellini gives the people under occupation a variety that we wanted more often elsewhere, even in characters whose actions need no defence. War dramas can leave civilians waiting patiently for history to happen to them. Here, the humour and the friendships keep drawing our attention back to people with lives beyond their immediate suffering. Across its 104 minutes, those attachments hold, even when the film’s determination to make its moral position clear becomes heavy-handed. See it for Anna Magnani and Aldo Fabrizi, and allow for the moments when Roberto Rossellini presses a point their performances have already made. *Fi1m score 89, published 16 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are unanimously positive, with praise centred on the immediacy of Roberto Rossellini’s depiction of occupied Rome. Most critics stress how location shooting, documentary-like detail and natural performances make the resistance struggle feel close and urgent. Anna Magnani’s earthy, forceful performance draws particular attention, while several reviews value the everyday humour and warmth alongside the violence. The consensus treats the film’s emotional force as still potent, rather than merely a matter of historical importance. The differences are modest and concern how critics understand its realism and melodrama. Slant Magazine notes the binary morality and melodramatic elements, while still praising the combination of political and religious symbolism with ordinary humour. Eye for Film instead emphasises the balance in its characterisation, pointing to a weary German officer. There is no substantial dissent: the narrow spread reflects differing emphases within a strongly favourable response. ### Reviews we read (10) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★★★): One of the toughest, bleakest war films ever made, this Roberto Rossellini classic depicts the merciless crushing of resistance during the German occupation of Rome. It is immortalised by the killing of a pregnant woman and prolonged torture scenes. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/rome-open-city-1945-review-a-tough-powerful-wartime-drama-2hw0v9gkm) - **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (5/5): The critic praises the film's documentary-like immediacy and raw urgency in depicting life under Nazi occupation, highlighting the authentic performances and blend of devastation with everyday humor and warmth. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/rome-open-city) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): The film retains its power to surprise and shock 70 years on as a landmark of world cinema. It blends neorealist techniques with melodrama and big emotions, highlighted by Anna Magnani's earthy, forceful performance. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-rome-open-city-review-20150220-column.html) - **Sight and Sound**, Geoff Andrew (90/100, inferred): The critic affirms its status as a timeless classic due to its raw authenticity, dramatic urgency, and powerful storytelling that transcends its historical context, evoking strong emotional response beyond mere admiration. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/rome-open-city-what-makes-classic) - **Slant Magazine**, Oleg Ivanov (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it a legendary achievement that mixes politico-religious symbolism and quotidian humor to powerful effect, while noting its binary moral structure and melodrama. They single out Anna Magnani’s radiant, earthy performance as the film’s standout element. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/rome-open-city/) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (90/100, inferred): Rossellini’s tense, bloody film conjures authenticity through a vision that brings ideas to life, revealing connections among resistance fighters and offering a template for postwar renewal of Italy and Italian cinema. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/rome-open-city) - **The New York Times**, Dave Kehr (90/100, inferred): Rome Open City had an impact like a raw slice of reality when it arrived in New York, emerging from the chaos of recently liberated Rome with nonprofessional elements and location shooting that laid foundations for modern cinema. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/movies/homevideo/24dvds.html) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (85/100, inferred): Rossellini's Rome, Open City is a thrillingly real neorealist drama set during the Nazi occupation, using actual ruins and non-professional performers to capture events fresh in the mind. The film is harrowing in its torture and execution scenes. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/06/rome-open-city-review-roberto-rossellini) - **Collider**, Namwene Mukabwa (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as a gripping, emotional, and unfiltered look at the fight against fascism and the Italian resistance under Nazi occupation. They single out its raw neorealist approach, shot on location with non-professional actors, for bringing authenticity and immediacy to the personal struggles of ordinary people. [Read](https://collider.com/rome-open-city-movie/) - **Eye for Film**, Steven Yates (90/100, inferred): The critic calls Rossellini's film a masterpiece that marks the start of neorealism and a golden age in Italian cinema. They single out its authentic production during the Nazi occupation and its balanced portrayal of characters, including a poignant moment with a weary German officer. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/rome-open-city-film-review-by-steven-yates) ## Details - **Director:** Roberto Rossellini - **Director:** Roberto Rossellini - **Screenplay:** Sergio Amidei, Roberto Rossellini, Federico Fellini - **Story:** Sergio Amidei - **Cinematography:** Ubaldo Arata - **Editor:** Eraldo Da Roma, Jolanda Benvenuti - **Music:** Renzo Rossellini - **Production design:** Rosario Megna - **Producer:** Giuseppe Amato, Rod E. Geiger, Roberto Rossellini - **Cast:** Aldo Fabrizi as Don Pietro Pellegrini; Marcello Pagliero as Giorgio Manfredi aka Luigi Ferraris; Harry Feist as Major Fritz Bergmann; Anna Magnani as Pina; Maria Michi as Marina Mari; Francesco Grandjacquet as Francesco; Vito Annicchiarico as Marcello; Ákos Tolnay as Austrian Deserter - **Runtime:** 1h 44m - **Release (the US):** 25 February 1946 - **Genres:** Drama, War - **Budget:** $20,000 - **Box office:** $1 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uzXxXnGfVs ## Where to watch in the US - HBO Max: streaming, leaving 2026-09-30 - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AU, CA, ES, GB, NZ, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1947: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Battle of Algiers* (1966), Fi1m 93: Occupation and resistance examined through streets, crowds and difficult choices. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-battle-of-algiers.md) - *Army of Shadows* (1969): Resistance work becomes a succession of practical decisions with appalling costs. - *The Ascent* (1977): Another war drama in which belief is tested through physical suffering. - *Ashes and Diamonds* (1958): Political duty meets personal longing, with more uncertainty about the heroes. - *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: For the crowded everyday lives and moral pressure, without the wartime setting. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. 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