Analysis of Italian Cinema: Post-War Italy and Society

This essay delves into the significant role of Italian cinema in reflecting the societal conditions of post-World War II Italy. It focuses on two seminal films: Roberto Rossellini's 'Open City' (1945) and Vittorio De Sica's 'Bicycle Thieves' (1948). 'Open City' is analyzed for its portrayal of the resistance movement and the impact of German occupation, while 'Bicycle Thieves' is examined for its depiction of the economic hardship and societal despair that plagued Italy in the aftermath of the war. The essay highlights the Neorealist style of these films, their use of location shooting, and their focus on the working class. Furthermore, it explores how these movies served as a powerful medium for shedding light on the devastation caused by the war and the struggles of ordinary Italians. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of cinema as a source of knowledge and understanding of the world, particularly in revealing the human cost of conflict and the long road to recovery.

Running head: ITALIAN CINEMA
Italian Cinema
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Italy was in the midst of both the World Wars of the twentieth century. The World Wars had a
devastating impact on the economic structure of Italy, as well as destroying the societal
conditions (Keynes). After the First World War, the situation in Italy worsened because of the
Great Depression. The Great Depression signified that economic situation, where the currency of
the various War inflicted economies, devalued to a large extent (Keynes). The post war
reconstruction that was envisioned by many people, failed to take place, as there was no
noteworthy finances left with the Government of the States. A such, the condition of the people
continued to deteriorate even after the end of the First World War. The frustration faced by the
people manifested in the form of an outbreak of the Second World War (Keynes). The economy
and society, which was left ravaged by the First World War, was completely destroyed during
the Second World War. This paper seeks to discuss the conditions prevailing in Italy towards the
end of the Second World War. For this purpose, two Italian movies have been taken as
guidelines, which reveal the societal conditions of Italy during those days. In the first part, the
paper discusses about Roberto Rossellini’s Open City (1945) and in the second part, Vittorio De
Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948) has been analyzed. The paper then discusses the approach taken by
the two movies to portray the reality of Italy, during two important historical moments of
humankind. In conclusion, the paper looks into the significance of movies as an important source
of gaining knowledge about the world around us.
Roberto Rossellini’s Open City, which was featured in 1945, is a film with immense
historical significance (Cragin). It was directed and produced at a time when the German troops
still had their presence in the country. Germany, after its humiliating defeat in the First World
War, wanted to establish its supreme control over all the European powers. For this purpose, it

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set up alliances with European countries with similar mindset, such as that of Italy. However,
there were a few common people within the Italian society who did not agree with the objectives
of the Germans and posed a serious challenge to the German Government. The German military
troops destroyed the Italian society, shutting down cinema halls and any other agencies of
propaganda (Kolker). The Germans wanted to keep the Italians under their control and any sign
of resistance from the common people would be negative to the aims and objectives of the
Germans.
Under such tense conditions. Roberto Rossellini decided to shoot for a nerve-wrecking
movie about an Italian priest, named Don Pietro (Forgacs). He also decided to mix the cause of
the partisan children who were widely active against the imposition of the objectives of the
Germans. The plot of the movie is delicately interwoven. The movie stars a character named
Giorgio Manfredi who takes the help of a priest Don Petro, who was anti-Fascist in his ideals and
Francesco, a partisan printer, to be kept safe from the German troops in Italy. However,
Francesco is killed on the day of his wedding and the German troops tortures Manfredi to death,
to reveal sensitive information about those who are involved in Resistance activities against the
Garman and Italian Government. Don Pietro is executed the following day, while the partisan
children witness the execution.
Through this movie, Rossellini wanted to portray the desolate condition prevailing in
Italy during the 1940s. Italy joined the Second World War on the side of the Axis (consisting of
Germany, Japan and Italy), but through the midway, it changed its stance in the favor of the
Allied Powers (the United States, Britain and France) (Kaiser). In 1943, the German troops
raided the country of Italy and occupied it, causing large-scale devastation to the Italian economy
and society (Kaiser). The German troops had the license to take all means necessary which

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would keep the German dream alive – that of world domination. The movie tries to show the
vulnerable societal conditions of hunger and despair of almost all the Italian citizens. The people
involved in the Resistance Movement were hunted down, thrown into imprisonment and
tortured. Even the children were not spared by the German troops.
The situation in Italy changed somewhat after the end of the Second World War. The
German occupation of Italy came to an end with the defeat of the German forces. This provided
relief to the people of Italy as their oppression came to an end (Locke). However, the economic
and societal conditions of Italy remained as ravaged as before. The economy was completely
destroyed and there was hardly any employment opportunities. The people were reduced to
begging on the streets for their daily needs (Locke). This adversely resulted in poor societal
conditions as the miserable economic situation forced people to steal from others.
Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves came out in 1948. This movie reveals the societal and
economic conditions prevailing in Italy just after the end of the Second World War (Cardullo).
Vittorio De Sica based the movie on a very poor household, where the husband, Antonio, finally
manages to get a job on putting up movie posters across the town. For the convenience of her
husband, the wife manages to get a bicycle for him through great hardship. However, on the first
day of the job itself, Antonio’s bicycle is stolen and he spends the entire day in frenzy looking
for his bicycle, along with his son. During their search, Vittorio De Sica magnificently portrays
the poor and pathetic societal conditions existing in Italy during that time. In his quest, Antonio
comes across various citizens of Italy who are in the same economic situation as he was in
(Cardullo).
The movie tried to show the devastating condition of the Italian people after the end of
the Second World War. The course of the War left the whole country ravaged and destroyed.

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Being employed was hard and societal morals were at an all time low. Vittorio De Sica tried to
show that material elements were the top priority for everyone during that time, while they
neglected their families (Sforza Tarabochia). Antonio went on a spree across the entire town on
the search for his bicycle, with his young son trailing behind him. At times, he even forgot about
the safety of his little child. The main message that the Director was trying to give through this
movie is that the condition of Italy during those days was so miserable that the common people
were trying simply to survive. Being concerned for the family was a luxury that only the rich
could afford. The poor people had much serious concern such as getting the bare minimum for
survival.
Roberto Rossellini’s Open City (1945) and Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948) fall
within the genre of Neorealism (Burke). The age of Neorealism emerged after the Second World
War, with the fall of Mussolini. The important characteristics of Italian Neorealist movies were
that they generally dealt with the situation prevailing amongst the working class of the society
and the movies were shot on location (Burke). The era of Italian Neorealist movies was
considered to be an era of Golden Age within Italian cinema. This is so because the movies of
such genre tried to portray the harsh realities of the existing society and the need for social
progress.
Roberto Rossellini’s Open City (1948) was considered to be too progressive for its time.
Roberto Rossellini managed to direct an awe-inspiring movie with limited budget and at a time,
when directing movies against German troops was considered to be the highest form of treachery
(Smith). The movie focused on the harsh social realities of the prevailing time. It tried to
showcase the inhumane activities carried out by the German troops for the achievement of their
dreams (Smith). The killing of Francesco on the day of his wedding, shooting Francesco’s

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pregnant fiancé Pina and the torturing of Manfredi and the consequent hanging of the priest Don
Pietro, portrayed the strength of the German forces. They had the power to kill anybody without
being held accountable for their actions.
In contrast, Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948) focused more on the societal
conditions prevailing in Italy after the end of the Second World War. While Rossellini showed
the oppression of the German forces on the Italian community, De Sica tried to portray the
miserable conditions of Italy after the end of Second World War and consequently, the end of
any external oppression. De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves portrayed that the economy of Italy still
remained so desolate after the end of the Second World War, that people still lived with fear in
their minds (Tagliani). They were not yet free to take care of the real problems such as looking
out for the well-being of their family members.
Both the movies showed the harsh desperate realities of Italy which persisted with the
onset of the Second World War. Wars have a devastating impact on humankind and it takes
decades and generations before the entire economy and society can be rebuild into a desirable
one (Fabbri). Rossellini and Vittorio played a commendable part in revolutionizing Italian
cinema during the mid-twentieth century.
In conclusion, it is observed that movies have a significant part to play within the societal
structure. They are one of the important channels via which the harsh realities of the world is
brought to the forefront. They educate the people on what is lacking in the society and what
needs to be done to improve the societal morals of people, as is seen in De Sica’s Bicycle
Thieves (1948). When the robber stole his bicycle, he or she did may have done it out of
compulsion. However, it posed a great concern for Antonio’s wife who had to sell many things
to purchase the bicycle. Similarly, the oppressive activities carried out by the German troops, as

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shown in Rossellini’s Open City (1945) showed to the world the harmful and regressive effects
of Wars on the society and economy. Thus, these movies are an invaluable source to know about
the devastating impact of the Second World War on the common people of Italy.

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Cragin, Thomas. "Conflicting interpretations of Rome, Open City in 1945 Italy." Historical
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Italianist 35.2 (2015): 182-201.
Forgacs, David. "Fascism and Italian cinema." The Italian cinema book (2017): 41-50.
Kaiser, David E. Economic Diplomacy and the Origins of the Second World War: Germany,
Britain, France, and Eastern Europe, 1930-1939. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Keynes, John Maynard. The economic consequences of the peace. Routledge, 2017.
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Locke, Richard. "Realism With a Heart." The American Scholar (2014): 88.
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Smith, Adrian. "Popular Italian cinema: culture and politics in a postwar society." (2017): 172-
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