Open City (1946)
96%RT Audience Score: 91%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Open City fills in the familiar contours of its storyline with three-dimensional characters and a narrative depth that add up to a towering — and still powerfully resonant — cinematic achievement.
Open City is like a boss at filling in the usual plot lines with characters that are so real, you’ll feel like you’re hanging out with them. The story is deep and meaningful, making it a total cinematic masterpiece. It’s the kind of movie that sticks with you long after the credits roll. Seriously, it’s that good.
Production Company(ies)
Excelsa Film
Distributor
Criterion Collection, Reel Media International [us], Video Yesteryear, Kino Video, Image Entertainment Inc.
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Via Casilina, Rome, Lazio, Italy
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
1945
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 45m
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Language(s):Italian, German, Latin
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 25, 1946 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 11, 2017
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, Maria Michi, Harry Feist, Francesco Grandjacquet, directed by Roberto Rossellini, written by Sergio Amidei, Alberto Consiglio, Federico Fellini, genre: Drama, box office performance: N/A, budget: N/A, reviewed by Kevin Maher, Kate Muir, Richard Brody, Kenneth Turan, Michael Phillips, Oleg Ivanov, Matt Brunson, Asher Luberto, Michael J Casey, Sean Axmaker, Virginia Graham, Paul Brenner, MPAA rating: N/A, produced by Ferrucio DeMartino, Roberto Rossellini
Worldwide gross: $16,712
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $327,716
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,829
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 35,738
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Anna Magnani – Pina
Marcello Pagliero – Luigi Ferrari
Maria Michi – Marina Mari
Harry Feist – Major Bergmann
Francesco Grandjacquet – Francesco
Director(s)
Roberto Rossellini
Writer(s)
Sergio Amidei, Alberto Consiglio, Sergio Amidei, Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini
Producer(s)
Ferrucio DeMartino, Roberto Rossellini
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (47)
One of the toughest, bleakest, war films ever made, this Roberto Rossellini classic simply couldn’t be any other way.
January 28, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The neo-realist film’s genius lies in a slow undertow, inexorably dragging the audience from laughter to tears.
January 2, 2018
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Handheld cameras tremble with the urgency of open wounds and violent emotion in Roberto Rossellini’s 1945 drama of the Italian resistance to the capital’s occupation by Nazi Germany.
October 26, 2016
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
A world cinema landmark, but that dusty, respectful word does not do justice to a film that has not lost its power to surprise and even shock.
February 19, 2015
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Today it doesn’t feel like a documentary at all. It’s a street opera, caught on camera during wartime, a story performed by a mixed cast of amazing professionals and earnest non-professionals.
October 31, 2014 | Rating: 4/4
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Roberto Rossellini’s film owes part of its emotional power to its mixture of politico-religious symbolism and quotidian humor.
September 8, 2014 | Rating: 4/4
Oleg Ivanov
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
One emotionally powerful scene follows another.
November 3, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Rossellini forever changed the way we look at movies. By shooting just six months after World War II, he was able to film Italy’s recovery through actual bombed out buildings, using a mix of professional and non-professional actors for authentic results.
April 5, 2020
Asher Luberto
L.A. Weekly
Changing the face of cinema.
August 19, 2019
Michael J. Casey
Boulder Weekly
he started working… before Rome fell to the Allies and shot his drama of partisans fighting the Germans and the Italian Fascists in the streets of the liberated city, amidst the poverty and devastation and uncertainty of the future.
August 4, 2017
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand
Written in desperate circumstances during the occupation and filmed soon after the liberation, it has all too skilfully trapped in the camera lens the atmosphere as well as a picture of those hideous times.
December 14, 2015
Virginia Graham
The Spectator
Seventy years after its initial release, it still hits like a sledgehammer to the soul.
September 11, 2014 | Rating: 5/5
Paul Brenner
Film Racket…
Plot
The location: Nazi occupied-Rome. As Rome is classified an open city, most Romans can wander the streets without fear of the city being bombed or them being killed in the process. But life for Romans is still difficult with the Nazi occupation as there is a curfew, basic foods are rationed, and the Nazis are still searching for those working for the resistance and will go to any length to quash those in the resistance and anyone providing them with assistance. War-worn widowed mother Pina is about to get married to her next-door neighbor Francesco. Despite Pina being pregnant and Francesco being an atheist, they’ll be married by Catholic priest Don Pietro Pelligrini. The day before the wedding, Francesco’s friend Giorgio Manfredi, whom Pina has never met, comes looking for Francesco as he, working for the resistance, needs a place to hide out. For his latest mission, Giorgio also requests the assistance of Don Pietro, who is more than willing as he sees such work as being in the name of God. Don Pietro’s position also provides him with access to where others cannot go. Giorgio’s girlfriend, cabaret performer Marina, doesn’t even know where Giorgio is in hiding. Both Pina and Marina take measures to improve their lives under this difficult situation, which might have tragic consequences.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Open City includes a mix of professional and non-professional actors for an authentic portrayal of wartime Italy.
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