Must-watchWorld War II · Film · 1945
Rome, Open City
Roma città aperta
In German-occupied Rome, a Resistance leader on the run turns to a widow about to marry, her fiancé and a parish priest, while the Gestapo tightens its net around the working-class neighbourhood that hides him.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 2 places.
Stop 1: Prenestino district, Rome
Key location
In a crowded working-class block, Manfredi hides with Pina and Francesco while the SS raid the building and round up the men.
Stop 2: Gestapo headquarters, Rome
Betrayed, Manfredi and Don Pietro are brought before Major Bergmann, who tries to break them before morning.
What really happened
German troops occupied Rome after Italy's armistice in September 1943 and held it for nine months, despite the city having been declared open, or undefended, on 14 August 1943. The SS ran a prison and interrogation centre in Via Tasso, Jews were rounded up on 16 October 1943, and after a partisan bombing in Via Rasella the Germans shot 335 hostages at the Ardeatine Caves on 24 March 1944. Allied troops entered Rome on 4 June 1944.
Rossellini began shooting only months after liberation, with little film stock and many non-professional actors. Pina's death recalls Teresa Gullace, shot by a German soldier on 3 March 1944, and Don Pietro combines two real priests: Giuseppe Morosini, executed at Forte Bravetta on 3 April 1944, and Pietro Pappagallo, killed at the Ardeatine Caves.
Where to watch
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Full details
- Original title
- Roma città aperta
- Directed by
- Roberto Rossellini
- Countries
- Italy
- Languages
- Italian, German
- Released
- 1945
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Mediterranean & Africa
- Themes
- Resistance
- True story
