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Paisan

342 votes

Six stories unfold in various regions, from Sicily to the northern Po Valley as American military personnel interact with a variety of Italian locals over eighteen months in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces retreat.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1946-12-10

Runtime: 125 mins

Director: Roberto Rossellini

Writer: Vasco Pratolini

Spoken language: Deutsch, English, Italiano, Latin

Genres: Drama, War

Original title: Paisan

Production Companies: Organizzazione Film Internazionali (OFI), Foreign Film Productions

Production Countries: Italy

Cast

Carmela Sazio

Robert Van Loon

Benjamin Emanuel

Raymond Campbell

Harry, a German soldier

Harold Wagner

German soldier

Albert Heinze

Merlin, American Soldier

Merlin Berth

Swede, an American soldier

Mats Carlson

Leonard Parrish

Dots Johnson

Alfonsino Pasca

Maria Michi

Fred, an American soldier

Gar Moore

Harriet, the nurse

Harriet Medin

Reviews

Geronimo1967

As the Allies begin their invasion of Italy in 1943, Roberto Rossellini tells us half a dozen stories that might have occurred as the largely American army made their way through the country heading for Rome. These stories are not connected in any individual way, only by virtue of their providing some interesting vignettes illustrating the attitudes of the locals they encounter and the soldier's own behaviour. As they move from Sicily on up the peninsula, we meet a population who have had different experiences of the war so far - some barely touched by it, some deeply so - and the US forces are not universally welcomed. I won't try to explain the plots of each of these episodes, but suffice to say that they each have a potency that demonstrates quite well the ravages of war on both the victors and the losers - and it's not always immediately clear whom is whom! My personal favourite involves a young, homeless and streetwise scrounger who takes advantage of a sozzled soldier only to end up back in his war-torn hometown where the seizure of a pair of boots is rather put into context. There's some philosophy here, too. The sense that all are united against a common enemy until the fractured nature of human nature re-emerges, and things like religion start to re-impose a sometimes quite questionable dogma on a previously conjoined family of beliefs and opinions is effectively presented. These are six mini-adventures. One or two of them may deal more with the romantic or personal aspects of war, but all are delivered under a fairly constant threat from bullets and bombs that culminates well with a scenario that sort of offers us the wartime equivalent of snagging! The last few pockets of resistance to the advancing forces proving dangerously effective and highly tenacious. There's something intensely plausible about these dramatisations - the Italians all speak in their own tongue; the production uses intimate photography and grand scale cinematography as well as maintaining a palpable sense of menace throughout. This is certainly amongst the best of the genre.

2024-02-03

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