Two Words, One Answer.
Rosselini
 Roberto Rossellini: Collector's Series $29.98 ERA NOTTE A ROMA ( translated title is ESCAPE FROM ROME) I'm a junkie for books & films set in German occupied Rome. Here's a little watched Rossellini film set just where I like to watc, in B&W, about WWII. It's a long movie. ( over 2 hours) and I enjoyed every moment. Not only do we get a look at the standard hardships of war, such as food shortages, curfews, air raids, we become involved with a diverse group of characters,. Three soldiers hiding out in a sculpture littered attic (that today is for sure worth over a million Euros): one English, one American, one Russian. As nation representatives, they start out behaving somewhat like cliches, but as their interactions with the Italians increase, they let down their type casting and even learn to speak Italian. Then again , the Italians have some hot emotional scenes that anybody would say were 'italian'. We see a clever woman disguise herself as a nun in order to get proscuito and oil from the countryside and then disrobe in the city to sell the goods on the black market, We see survival sides of priests, doctors, partisans and even....a principessa and prince. The Pope has a short walk-through a la Hitchcock. PThe Germans are always nasty. We witness history-- the shooting on via Rasella and counter killings in Fosse Ardeatine; the landings at Anzio; the Germans leave & Americans arriving in Rome. Dramatic. Sometimes scary.Some melodrama. An enriching look at the Eternal City when her lights went out.  The Taking of Power by Louis XIV - Criterion Collection $29.95 This was one of Rossellini's first TV films, shot for French TV near the end of his career. Rossellini has been the least of my favorite filmmakers from Italy, not because he isn't talented, but I just never got into his films like I did the other famous Italian filmmakers. But after having viewed this film (and his subsequent TV work), I respect him much more, and these later films are my favorites of his work. This film, shot for French television, is a cousin to Rossellini's historical films of the Enlightenment (The Age of Medici, Cartesius, and Blaise Pascal). This may be the best out of all four of those films. It's the most visually opulent of the four films, with stunning costumes and set design, and photographically it's beautiful. That's quite astounding considering it was shot on 16mm film, which doesn't age very well. Kudos to Criterion for restoring it well. While the performances in the Italian TV films were mostly perfunctory, in this film they are livelier and more interesting. It could be because Rossellini was working with direct sound (something he never did in his Italian films), and the performances are enriched because of that. Jean Marie Patte, who plays the king, is stiff at times, obviously reading from cue cards in a few scenes. Rossellini gave his actors their lines just before they shot, and had cue cards on the set if they couldn't remember, so it's not all Jean Marie's fault. It's a bit distracting, but it doesn't detract too much from the overall experience of the film. There are some striking scenes in the film, one near the end film in a garden, and when a key rival of Louis is arrested. The courtoom intrigue is absolutely fascinating. There are also surprising parallels between today's world and the world inherited by Louis XIV. It's also fascinating to see Louis mature from a shy, spoiled, hedonisitic person to a mature, solid, and shrewd politican/king. It's also unnerving to see doctors at the beginning of the film tend to Mazarin who leaves his fortune to Louis (the doctors, learned men of their time, bleed Mazarin in hopes of healing him. They also smell his chamber pot). The film is very dry, talky, and intellectual, so if you're expecting an HBO series that's occasionally historically accurate but shows gratuitous sex just because they can, you should skip this (even though they are funny scenes in the film dealing with sex). If you adjust to the rhythms and sensibility of The Taking of Power by Louis XIV, it's absolutely fascinating stuff.  Manifesto by Rosselini for women 1.7 oz Eau De Toilette EDT Spray $24.62 Manifesto by Rosselini for women, 1.7 oz Eau De Toilette EDT Spray |
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