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Carol Reed, The Third Man (1949), screenplay by Graham Greene. Starring Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard.
Set in Vienna in the wake of the Second World War, The Third Man plays more like a dark comedy than the tragedy of Roberto Rossellini's Germany Year Zero (1948). Though both films deal with underground markets and are populated with several seedy, even grotesque characters, Carol Reed's take -- and Graham Greene's -- is more detached and removed from his subjects, less empathetic than Rossellini's. Yet both are fascinating.
The Third Man underscores the evil that men do because they can. In his own way, Harry Lime (played by Orson Welles) is as ruthless, callous and brutal in worldview as the overthrown Nazis, even while Vienna is under occupation by four of the "winning" powers (Russian, American, French and British). In the face of this, what can his writer friend Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotton) do but have another drink and contemplate another Western novel?
Today's Rune: Fertility.
Roberto Rossellini's Germania anno zero / Germany Year Zero / Deutschland im Jahre Null (1948), the third film of his "War Trilogy," centers on an ailing father, a daughter and two sons trying to stay afloat in Berlin soon after the end of the Second World War. Life among the ruins.
The before and after: some of the survivors still believe in Hitler times, but quietly accommodate the occupiers, selling artifacts and black market services to "golly gee" Americans. Most are dazed and living day by day with assigned housing, ration cards, and not enough legal work to go around. The aftermath of war in a defeated country.
The Criterion Edition (verso) of Deutschland im Jahre Null includes plenty of extras. More is remembered through defeat than through victory.
Today's Rune: Breakthrough.
Roberto Rossellini's Paisà / Paisan (1946), the second of his "War Trilogy," contains six stories set toward the end of the Second World War in Italy, starting from the South and working North.
Pictured above from the second episode is American M.P. Joe (Hylan "Dots" Johnson, 1913-1986) and Italian waif-survivor Pascale (Alfonsino Pasca) in bombed-out Naples. The movie title means "friends" or "countrymen."
Paisà / Paisan is up close and personal, with Germans, Italians, British, and Americans fighting with or against each other, trying to communicate beyond language barriers amid violence or the near aftermath of violence.
Picking through the devastation of Firenze / Florence, a live battlefield in episode four.
Episode five of Paisà / Paisan involves the visit to a monastery by a Catholic, a Jewish and a Protestant chaplain, with a bemused mix of appreciation and confusion for hosts and guests.
The final episode involves the brutality of guerrilla warfare along the River Po, with the Germans still mounting effective resistance.
Paisà / Paisan: a free-wheeling ensemble and stark reminder that war is a cemetery for those killed and both a nightmare and a cultural exchange for the survivors.
Today's Rune: Protection.
Roberto Rossellini: Roma città aperta / Rome, Open City (1945).
"All roads lead to Rome, Open City." -- Jean-Luc Godard (1959).
"In 2013, [Pope] Francis spoke to Rome’s La Repubblica newspaper and expressed his deep feelings for [Rome, Open City,] Roberto Rossellini’s realist war drama, which is a ground-zero account of the city under Nazi siege — and which features a Catholic priest as its main character." -- Source: here.
Rome, Open City has touches of Casablanca and any number of "under siege" tales, but its nearness to real events, shot among real war ruins, gives the film a powerful boost. It's raw.
An iconic image of Pina, played by Anna Magnani (1908-1973), in German-occupied Rome.
The Criterion Collection version with extra features, part of the Roberto Rossellini War Trilogy box set (2017).
Aldo Fabrizi (1905-1990) as Don Pietro Pellegrini, a goodly priest who says: "It's not hard to die well. The hard thing is to live well." And, akin to Pope Francis: "I am a Catholic priest. I believe that those who fight for justice and truth walk in the path of God and the paths of God are infinite."
Today's Rune: Partnership.
Roberto Rossellini's The Flowers of St. Francis / Francesco, giullare di Dio (1950). Vignettes of the original Franciscans, played by real Franciscan monks, with a medieval feel, beyond normal time, in black and white. This is the kind of little gem of a movie that distinguishes cinema from books as an art form.
Federico Fellini co-wrote the minimalist script, which is more evident in some of the chapters than others.
San Francesco d'Assisi / Saint Francis of Assisi lived from about 1181 to 1226 A.D.
The main cook for the early Franciscans was Fra Ginepro / Brother Juniper, who died in 1258 A.D. He was a bit of a "jester."
Here, Franciscans spread a feeling of peace in the village, near the end of the film. They also redistribute food to the hungry.
St. Francis and St. Clare at St. Mary of the Angels. Santa Chiara d'Assisi / Saint Clare of Assisi lived from 1194 to 1253 A.D.
This memorable film provides an alternative to the many human-directed miseries already wrought in the 21st century. The Criterion Collection package includes extra interviews. Isabella Rossellini (born 1952), daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, provides impressive insight in one of them.
Today's Rune: Partnership.
