Rome Open City: The Neorealist Masterpiece Restored

Rome Open City, a real one manifesto in Neorealism, was screened for the first time September 24, 1945, at the Quirino Theater in Rome. Tomorrow, at 80 years since that historic screening, to celebrate this anniversary, right at the Quirino Theatre, an evening of gala, open to the public, with the screening of the film restored and with the presence of Isabella Rossellini, Alessandro Rossellini and Benedetta Porcaroli who will talk with the film critic Steve Della Casa. During the evening Lidia Vitale will remember Anna Magnani with an extract from one of his theatrical monologues and Stefano Fresi, accompanied by the maestro Alessandro Greggia, will dedicate a tribute to Aldo Fabrizi, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of his birth birth, with the song Lulù. Organized by the family with La Onni srl the project, from title Spring Will Come Back, includes special screenings and even new guided tours. On September 27th and 28th, to respect the will of the director to keep the city of Rome at the center of the narrative, in collaboration with the Quattropassi Association, will be organize guided tours visiting locations related to the film, its protagonists and unusual glimpses but significant. Roberto Rossellini, Aldo Fabrizi and Anna Magnani will "accompany" the participants through pages, passages and excerpts that will make this cinematic walk lively, curious and exciting. In November, instead, together with Anec Lazio and the Cinema Adriano in Rome, a day dedicated to the new generations will be held where the film will be the subject of a masterclass in which personalities and professionals will meet the classes of the Institute Cine-TV Roberto Rossellini and the Experimental Center of Cinematography to analyze, discuss and revisit in a contemporary key creative and modern some sequences of the film. If the criticism, Initially, he had some reservations, the public sided immediately on the side of the film, decreeing its national success and international (won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival). In the History of Cinema, there is a before and after Rome City Open and it does not surprise us if this film has left its mark in a way indelible the imagination of many generations of future filmmakers, including, for example, Martin Scorsese as he recalls Isabella Rossellini in her personal contribution to the project. The Rome portrayed in the film is a bent city, but not at all tamed nor folkloric. It is a capital that hatches the rebellion against adversity, made by ordinary people from great moral strength, proud like Magnani herself who with the the character of the commoner Pina becomes the emblem of the woman who must and wants to rebel against all forms of violence and injustice.