Film Forum

L’UOMO DALLA CROCE
Italy, 1943
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Starring Alberto Tavazzi, Roswita Schmidt, Aldo Capacci
Approx. 74 min. 35mm.

The films that Rossellini made before ROME, OPEN CITY are infrequently revived and rarely discussed. But before he could break the rules and reinvent cinema, he had to hone his filmmaking craft. His early features were commercial works made by a film industry whose growth had been nurtured and supported by Mussolini, even as the films themselves were not, strictly speaking, propaganda made-to-order for the fascist regime. They were nevertheless imbued with enough fascist ethos to make for uncomfortable viewing for post-war audiences. Rossellini’s third feature, THE MAN WITH A CROSS, was conceived by fascist news commentator and editor Asvero Gravelli, and followed the plight of an Italian chaplain on the Russian front. Although the film ends with a dedication to the chaplains who have died in “a crusade against godless barbarians,” Rossellini’s overall approach is more humanist than evangelical.

35mm print courtesy Cinecittà.

With

Fantasia Sottomarina
Italy, 1940
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Approx. 10 min.

While working unhappily as a screenwriter, Rossellini embarked on his own film, a short about the lives of fish. From the start, Rossellini’s devotion to ‘realism’ was conditional, with this ‘documentary’ about life under the sea actually shot over several months in large aquariums on his rooftop and overlaid with humorous commentary.

Courtesy Cinecittà.