With Era Notte a Roma director, Roberto Rossellini, returns to the tumultuous time in recent Italian history - the fall of Mussolini and the last days of World War II - that had provided the material for two of his best known works, Rome Open City and Paisà. A contemplative effort that effectively ponders the Italian condition, the film is set during the months between Italy's surrender to the Allies and the time when, after fierce fighting in the south of Italy, Rome was abandoned by the Nazis and liberated by the Allies. It's the story of three escaped Allied prisoners of war (Leo Genn, Sergei Bondarchuk and Peter Baldwin) and their months of hiding in a Rome still occupied by the Germans. Sheltered by a beautiful, tough-minded working class woman (Giovanni Ralli) and thus given something to fight over, the national chauvanism of the prisoners soon simmers to the boil. A fascinating, sumptuously shot picture peopled with fascinating characters and events, the sense of humanity at the core of this award-winning film will be familiar to admirers to Rossellini’s work.

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