Paisan (1946) User Reviews

Rossellini: An important figure in the development of the cinema..

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 21 September 2002]

Often dismissed as a founder of Italian Neo-Realism whose career degenerated either at the start or the end of his much publicized relationship with Ingrid Bergman, Roberto Rossellini remains one of the most underrated directors in cinema history...

Exploring the links between fiction and documentary, observation and education, and the individual and society, he was an important figure in the development of the cinema...

Rossellini said of the film: 'In Paisá there were two worlds which came into contact, each with a different psychology and mental structure. From this contact was born a great confusion; so much so that in the end there were neither victors nor vanquished, there remained only the everyday heroism of the man who clings to life. And who lives, despite everything, whether he is one of the victors or one of the vanquished.'

Rossellini followed 'Rome Open City' with the equally impressive Paisá, whose six, often barely dramatic stories of part-comic, part tragic encounters between Italians, Germans and liberating Americans were rooted in specific locations (the Po Valley, the Uffizi Gallery), but were universal in their portrait of an entire nation destroyed and divided by war...

Already Rossellini's taste for long, mobile takes in long shot (rather than montage and close-up) gave evidence of his desire to relate individuals to the world around them...

In using a number of non-professional cast, and combining them with his improvisatory techniques, Rossellini get an universally acclaimed human document of rare quality and compassion...

Georges Sadoul wrote that Rossellini had 'damned the horrors that war had brought to his country and his heart cry was emotionally and enthusiastically understood around the entire world.'

Six effective vignettes in the ruins of Italy

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 16 July 2015]

It's six vignettes of the Allied invasion of Italy. There is humor, romance, poignancy, drama and most of all there is tragedy. Together the six stories stitch together a mosaic that is hopefully as enduring as one of the great artwork of history.

An American recon squad enters a Sicilian village. One of them comes from a Sicilian background. Local girl Carmela guides them past German mines taking shelter in an old ruin. Joe stays with Carmela as the rest of the squad explores and they are surprised by a small squad of Germans. Carmela Sazio is very stiff as an actress. She's an amateur and there's value in that. However her character has a lot of emoting to do and she has trouble doing it.

A group of street performing kids in Naples find drunken negro soldier Joe. Pasquale takes him around and they have an adventure. The poor kid steals from him. He turns out to be an MP and later he finds Pasquale. He is angry and drags Pasquale back home. The poverty of his home convinces Joe to leave him the boots. The kids are terrific and in this case, it's unlikely to get better actor than this amateur kid.

In a liberated Rome, American GI Fred spends the night with prostitute Francesca. He has been searching for a woman he met 6 months ago and she realizes that she's actually that woman. This is a great story but I'm not sure it's set up right. It would be great to see them 6 months earlier.

Half of Florence is liberated. All but one bridge has been blown and the partisans are struggling against the Germans. American nurse Harriet is desperate to get across to find her love. She is joined by Massimo looking for his family. The location shoot of them sneaking around an abandoned Florence is amazing.

A monastery escapes damage from the war and is visited by three American chaplains. Catholic Captain Bill Martin translates but the monks are shocked to find the other two are a Protestant and a Jew. The monks intent on converting the two disbelievers.

It's the closing stage of the war in Europe, American OSS and Italian partisans are struggling behind German lines in the Po delta. Supplies are dwindling and the fight is deadly. They rescue two downed British airmen. They are ambushed and captured. This is the most brutal of the stories and it ends the movie with its most brutal scenes.

Ironic, Neo-realist narrative of Italian-American interaction in WW II, proves way ahead of its time

[Turfseer · 9/10 · 15 December 2016]

Roberto Rossellini's Paisan is a groundbreaking film that diverges from his previous work in Rome Open City, delving into the complex interactions between American soldiers and Italians during World War II. This innovative film comprises six separate episodes, all connected by the recurring theme of miscommunication borne out of war and the resulting ironies that emerge when two vastly different cultures collide.

In the first episode, the devastating consequences of miscommunication become evident as an American reconnaissance patrol finds themselves in a small Sicilian village. With only one translator to navigate the conflicting voices, the Americans struggle to understand their reluctant Italian hosts. In this war-torn scenario, they enlist the help of Carmela, a local girl, as their guide. However, their interactions are fraught with challenges due to the language barrier.

Tragedy strikes when a German sniper kills Joe, a private from New Jersey, leaving Carmela distraught. The Germans occupy the castle where Joe and Carmela sought refuge, and in a heart-wrenching act of revenge, Carmela attempts to shoot at them but is captured and thrown off the cliffs. The ultimate miscommunication occurs when the Americans return and mistakenly conclude that Carmela was responsible for Joe's death, showcasing the grim irony and misunderstanding engendered by war.

The second episode unfolds in the port city of Naples and features an African-American actor, Dots Johnson, in a non-stereotyped role as Joe, an Army MP. Remarkably for its time (1946), the film portrays an African-American character in a "normal," non-offensive role, a rarity in cinema. Joe, battling the racism prevalent in the US, befriends a young street urchin named Pasquale. In a poignant revelation, Pasquale confesses that he does not want to return to America due to the racism he faced there.

The episode takes an ironic turn when Pasquale steals Joe's shoes while he is intoxicated. When Joe discovers the theft and confronts Pasquale, he learns that the young boy's parents were killed by allied bombs. Joe's epiphany leads him to empathize deeply with Pasquale's immense loss, putting his own struggles with racism into perspective. He eventually relinquishes his pursuit of the stolen shoes, understanding the magnitude of Pasquale's tragedy.

The third episode takes place in Rome, where G. I. Fred meets a prostitute named Francesca. As they share an intimate moment, Fred nostalgically reminisces about a woman he met six months prior when the Americans first liberated the city. Unbeknownst to Fred, the woman he fondly remembers is none other than Francesca herself. The irony unfolds as Francesca realizes that Fred does not recognize her as the same person, leading to a poignant and bittersweet revelation.

Moving on to the fourth episode, we witness two characters, American nurse Harriet and partisan Massimo, attempting to enter a besieged section of Florence, defended by partisans resisting the Germans. Harriet's motive is to reunite with the partisan leader Lupo, whom she has known in the past and may have feelings for. Massimo seeks to connect with his surviving family members. As they navigate the perilous streets, other partisans repeatedly advise them to turn back, highlighting the potential danger.

The irony of their quest becomes evident when, due to their single-minded pursuits, one of the partisans is shot and killed by a sniper. This tragic outcome results directly from Harriet and Massimo's insistence on fulfilling their personal desires, underlining the complexities of war and the unintended consequences of their actions.

In the fifth and perhaps most enigmatic episode, three US Army chaplains, representing Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism, visit a recently liberated Roman Catholic monastery. The Jewish chaplain observes the priests' detachment from the harsh realities of war, and their spirituality is tainted by petty prejudices, as they express shock at the presence of the Protestant and Jewish chaplains. During a meal, only the Americans eat, while the bigoted priests fast, hoping their non-Catholic guests will repent and convert.

Captain Bill Martin, the Catholic chaplain, surprisingly toasts his hosts, demonstrating forgiveness and admiration for their devotion to faith despite their narrow-mindedness. The episode delves into the complexities of religious and cultural divides amidst the backdrop of war.

Finally, the last episode poignantly echoes the first, where the Americans initially misread the Italians and arrive at erroneous conclusions due to suspicions and war-induced tensions. The Italians' collaboration with American OSS agents signifies a significant shift, as they now work together against a common enemy. Tragically, both the Italians and Americans face a show of solidarity in death, emphasizing the profound bond forged between them despite their differences.

Paisan is an absolute must-see film that masterfully blends documentary footage and Neo-realist storytelling to explore the intricate impact of war on communication and the profound connections formed amidst cultural disparities.

I have lived this story, and my heart cries every time i see this picture

[spaba · 30 August 2000]

This movie is the masterpiece of Roberto Rossellini, more than Roma città aperta. I was eleven when this story happened, I saw the Nazi troop burn the little town where I lived, I saw my mother kneeling and begging a Nazi soldier not to kill us, and I saw the German saying You bastard italian, alles kaputt. All the stories of this movie are true, the little boy who is alone in Napoli, the Roman girl who loves the GI arrived and after became a bitch (is more difficult to win the peace than the war), the story in Florence, you think to be in August 44, the British officer who speakes of the poor jerries that destroys all the world around them, the execution of the fascist sniper, peoples running in the Gallery of Uffizi. But the most moving is the final episode,one can feel the fear, the smell of death, the courage of the partisans and of the O.S.S., Popsky army and San Marco men. Now, when many people has forgotten the horror of war, the cruelty of men, the courage of few, this picture should be projected as a memory of things that we don want to see anymore. My name is Bruno Signorelli, I am 67 and I have seen what means the war, especially the guerrilla war.

Rossellini's masterpiece. A reference in War genre

[Teyss · 10/10 · 26 July 2016]

"Paisa" is part of a WWII trilogy shot just after the war, together with Roma città aperta (1945) and Germania anno zero (1948), each depicting a specific episode of WWII: respectively the conquest of Italy by the Allies, the occupation of Rome by the Germans and post-war Berlin. "Paisa" is not only the best of the three, it is Rossellini's masterpiece, an essential Neo-Realism movie and a major Italian classic. For the anecdote, "paisa" is an informal word meaning "countryman".

HUMANITY

Although this movie is about Italy's campaign at the end of WWII, it only briefly deals with its important moments: the Allied landing in Sicily, the battle of Monte Cassino, the Gothic line battle. These are just summarised with archive footage between the main scenes. Interestingly, it does not even mention other critical moments: the downfall of Mussolini, his escape, his brief so-called "republic", his final downfall and execution, the invasion of Italy by the German army, the deportation of Jews, etc.

This because the movie shows war at human level: how war and its aftermath impacts people's lives and values; also, it revolves around the relationship between Italians and Americans. It is not a "war movie" in the generally accepted sense, but rather "humane stories during war".

DOCUFICTION

To illustrate different aspects, it shows six scenes as the Allies progress north through Italy's landmarks. Three scenes occur during the battles (1, 4, 6) and three afterwards (2, 3, 5). Remarkably, the movie avoids the pitfall of many "vignette movies", namely the sensation of watching different shorts instead of a full-length picture: "Paisa" maintains a thematic and aesthetic unity throughout, as we will see. At the same time, each scene has its own specific interest, which enhances the unique character of the movie.

Aesthetically, it combines documentary and fictional styles, in a ground-breaking manner for the period. Every scene begins with archive footage: when fiction starts, it seems a continuation of archives. Also, as in a documentary, shooting is sober, stories are simple, themes are realistic. However, Rossellini introduces at carefully chosen moments fictional elements to enhance the dramatic impact of each scene: music, lighting, offbeat humour, surprising actions. The latter notably include: the Italian girl turns against the Germans (1); the GI first does not recognise the boy who stole his shoes (2); the GI does not recognise the woman he fell in love with six months before (3); a woman and a wounded man manage to pass the fighting line (4); the entire scene in the monastery feels out of this world (5); a small group of partisans resist the German army (6).

HUMOUR

Humour is another key element. It is tricky to introduce humour in a war movie, but Rossellini succeeds in order to avoid an altogether too tragic tone. The entire scene in the monastery (5) is humorous, which is acceptable because at that stage the war in the region is over and the monks do not have to face too tragic consequences, as opposed to the scenes in Naples (2) and Rome (3). The tone is satirical (the monks are nervous because a Jew and a Protestant are within their walls), but at the same time we understand how they feel. Another hilarious part, albeit much shorter, is the incredible dialogue between British officers (4): they are looking at the fighting from far away and talk in a phlegmatic manner as if the war did not exist.

This humour partly balances the overall tragic tone of the movie: killings, poverty, cruelty. Tones are hence balanced between dark (1, 6), light (5), or both (2, 3, 4). Irony, this dark form of humour, is constant:

• The GIs think the girl shot their companion, while she tried to avenge him (1).
• The GI cannot get his shoes back (2).
• The GI thinks the woman he fell in love with is just another prostitute (3).
• The nurse crosses the line to find a man who is actually dead (4).
• The monks are tolerant up to a point (5).
• Irony in the last scene is subtler. Many scenes contain a touching speech by an American: the GI tries to talk to the Italian girl (1); the GI dreams of glory (2); the GI regrets the good spirits during liberation (3); the chaplain confesses he found peace of mind (5). However, the only speech in the last scene is the dreadful propaganda from the German officer about destruction and new order. This is highly ironic: it contrasts with the previous humane speeches; also, it was obvious in winter 1944 that Germany had lost the war and Nazism was utter barbarity.

ETHICS

On top of death and destruction, war brings moral decay. People know what they are doing is wrong, but they have no choice:

• The GIs force the girl to help them (1).
• "Don't sleep else I will steal your shoes", the orphan warns the GI (2).
• The prostitute regrets the time when she was respectable (3).
• By crossing the fighting line, the man looking for his family gets a partisan shot (4).
• By asking for food in a house, the partisans expose its inhabitants to severe revenge from the Germans (6).

Because deep down, people are decent and try to help each other: the girl turns against the Germans because she was touched by the GI trying to talk to her (1); the GI pities the orphan's misery (2); the usherette allows the prostitute inside without paying to escape the police (3); the partisans let the two civilians pass despite the risks for their cause (4); the peasants feed the partisans despite the risks (6).

Hence the movie is mostly tragic with an optimistic message: after the war, hopefully a better world will emerge based on people's humanity that was temporarily crushed. Italians collaborators and German Nazis are seldom shown: they belong to the past. Symbolically, communication progressively improves between Italians and Allies during the movie: from impossible conversation (1, 2) to limited dialogue (3, 4), to eventually efficient coordination (5, 6). The last shot simply but beautifully illustrates hope: after a dramatic close-up on partisans thrown into the water, the camera moves up towards the horizon and the voice that previously described fierce battles announces the war will soon be over.

At times devastating, at times with a little faith- Paisa is Rossellini's neo-realist epic

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 27 January 2004]

Now that I have seen all three films in Roberto Rossellini's 'post-war' trilogy (the others being the groundbreaking Open City and Germany Year-Zero), I think Paisa is the one that got to me the most. I knew when I saw clips of the film in Scorsese's My Voyage to Italy that it would have some level of promise, but I didn't know it could be this compelling. Divided up into six vignettes, Rossellini paints something of a historical document as much as a film- each one carries its own strengths (there may be a weakness here and there for some, though this may lend itself to the fact that the film has not been restored and is in dire need of new subtitles), and the documentary-type approach elevates characters and situations to the level of great tragedy. These may be fictionalized accounts, they may not be, but in telling these stories, getting them through to the audience at the time, they remain potent little notes in film history.

From vignette to vignette, the allied forces move their way upward from Sicily to northern Italy. Among them, I got struck by how frank the issues were being dealt with, and how levels of humanity and kindness crept their way in. For example, the story with the drunken black man who spends some time with a kid dealing in the black-market, this is an emotionally complex scene- a viewer won't know how it'll turn out in the first few minutes, but it unfolds precisely to the characters' natures. The story involving the soldiers spending time in the monastery was also powerfully simplistic in the way it dealt with the themes of faith and sacrifice (the later stems to the other vignettes). And there are numerous other moments and scenes that can stop you dead in your tracks- a young child that cries in one scene and a nurse braving enemy territory had my mouth open.

I realize not that many people in my generation will seek out this film- notably since it's not easy to find except on-line- and certain scenes may seem too 'mushy' for some. However, there is worth to seeking out a work such as Paisa- in a sense, this and Rossellini's other early films were like the first independent films to Italy's claim. There isn't any sign in any of his post-war pictures that he's catering to studios or working on big budgets. These are stories being told with little money, non-professionals, and they definitely last years later after all the rubble was cleared. Maybe most remarkable is the way Rossellini and his writers (one of them Fellini) let things happen, and not without consequence or without logic of some sort.

It's also a technically brilliant feature, with the cinematography by Otello Martelli creating shots as heart-rending as the performances. So, for those who hate dictated plots, sloppy clichés, and all the other disappointments found in 21st century movie-making & storytelling, this is a great place to dip your toes. If anything, it's surely thrilling as a war film.

An Essential War Film

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 3 March 2016]

Communication is fragile. A woman leads an Allied patrol through a mine field; she dies protecting a G.I., but the Yanks think she killed him. A street urchin steals shoes from a G.I. who tracks him to a shanty town. A G.I. meets a woman the day Rome is liberated; in six months they meet again: he's cynical, she's a prostitute. A US nurse braves the trip across the Arno into German fire in search of a partisan she loves. Three chaplains, including a Jew, call on a monastery north in the Apennines. Allied soldiers and partisans try to escape capture in the marshes of the Po.

Rossellini engaged six writers, each of whom was to write one episode: Klaus Mann, Marcello Pagliero, Sergio Amidei, Federico Fellini, Alfred Hayes, and Vasco Pratolini. Each episode took place in a different location. The script notwithstanding, Rossellini often improvised with the actors and rewrote the stories as they were being filmed. For the first episode filmed in Sicily, Rossellini discarded the script and coached the non-professional, illiterate lead actress Carmela Sazio to a performance that received critical praise.

I love the variety of views on World War II. What is especially interesting is how we start with the point of view of the Allies. For much of the war, Italy was not an Ally but was ruled by Mussolini, who gravitated towards Hitler. (Though Italy was the least "evil" of Germany, Japan and Italy.) So this film seemingly champions the recent enemy...

The Random Vignettes of War !!!

[avik-basu1889 · 7/10 · 1 November 2016]

'Paisan' was Roberto Rossellini's second film in his famous 'War Trilogy'. It comprises of 6 episodes showcasing random characters involved or living in wartime Italy, strung together to make up the whole film. These episodic vignettes on one hand are random and not closely related to each other, but one can find general themes that loosely bind them together.

A similarity that can be drawn with Rossellini's first film in the War Trilogy, i.e. 'Rome, Open City' and 'Paisan' is that both the films try to be as inclusive as possible. Both films feature different characters from various sections of Italian society. 'Paisan' features a number of interesting characters, but unlike 'Rome, Open City' which mixes these characters together and lets them interact in the same narrative, 'Paisan' uses multiple short disconnected scenarios featuring the characters without mixing them together. I also think 'Paisan' is perfect as the next chapter to 'Rome, Open City' due to the progression that we see in the way Rossellini uses foreigners and specifically Americans. In 'Rome, Open City', the Italian characters from time to time make remarks about their hopes of getting American assistance. There is always this hope beneath the struggle and misery that the Americans will arrive to rid them of their troubles. In 'Paisan', Americans are an integral part of the film and their interaction with the Italian natives is one of the most fascinating aspects of the film. The title of the film means 'friend' and friendship is exactly what the film advocates even if it involves breaking language and geographical barriers.

Rossellini uses newsreel footage and narration at the beginning of every episode to crank up the realism of the film. The first three of the episodes involve American and Italian characters having trouble communicating with each other due to the language barrier. The first episode shows a group of American soldiers walking into a Church and taking a young girl along with them to show them the way. Rossellini shows us his directorial skill in one beautiful scene where he uses one single extended take to stage a conversation between one of the American soldiers, Joe and the young Italian girl Carmela. Joe tries to break the ice with her by talking about him, his family, his home, his loneliness and the long take that Rossellini uses adds to the authenticity of the scene. But this sweet scene and the long take gets broken up by the reality of the war and what follows is heartbreaking.

The second episode is similar to the first in showing an American and an Italian kid having troubles in understanding each other's language. There is a beautiful and intimate scene where the American Joe in his drunken state talks to the young Italian kid while both are sitting on a pile of rubble. Joe in the end to some extent becomes the world's eyes looking into the sorry plight of the Italian masses and the finale to this episode is an eye opener for one and all.

The third episode is probably my favourite. Here the American soldier,Fred and the Italian prostitute,Francesca understand each other's language. This episode has a style of storytelling similar to an O. Henry short story. Both the characters are likable. There is a sad misunderstanding at play and Fred's inability to grasp the reality of the situation and the troubles of women like Francesca in wartime Italy is the basis of this episode. The ending to this episode is probably the most poignant and heartbreaking moment in the entire film.

The fourth episode shows us exactly why Gillo Pontecorvo was heavily influenced by 'Paisan'. This is a brilliantly directed segment with brilliant gritty shots of guerrilla warfare on the streets of Rome. This episode is probably the most energetic of all. The language barrier is virtually nonexistent.

The fifth episode is my least favourite. We go into a church and the Italian Catholic monks welcome 3 American soldiers. Certain aspects of the faiths followed by the soldiers become revealed and the priests struggle among themselves to decide what to do. The episode ends on an overly melodramatic and sentimental tone and I would've liked a more complex treatment of this tussle between prejudice and righteousness.

The sixth episode has a standard war film like look and vibe to it. The American soldiers and the Italian partisan fighters collaborate and they understand each other's language. Nothing special jumps out of this particular segment except the fact that this is a great tribute to all the partisan Italian fighters.

When it comes to Rossellini's direction and style of storytelling, there are moments of brilliance and mastery littered throughout the film. Some episodes are better than others which is bound to happen when a film is structured in an episodic manner. But I think, there are some weaknesses in the screenplay. There are moments where the film delves a little too deep into melodrama and sentimentality which was a bit jarring. Another big weakness was the acting. Some of the performances in the film especially from the people playing the Americans were cringeworthy. Apparently many of them were real soldiers who were still residing in Italy after the war, but I can't put that into consideration while judging the film especially when I have seen directors like De Sica, Satyajit Ray,etc. get great performances out of amateurs. The lines of dialogue written for the English speaking characters were also very subpar and not at all realistic.

I liked 'Paisan' much more than 'Rome, Open City'. I believe this film has more subtlety, more complexity and shows more maturity in Rossellini's direction. However it isn't a perfect film. Having mentioned the problems that I had with the film earlier, I'll still recommend it to everyone. This is a film which should be seen because of the way it influenced other filmmakers and because of its noble themes.

A Great Representation of Film & Italian History

[ErinKan214 · 9/10 · 1 May 2011]

Having seen "The Bicycle Thieves" I was aware of Italian Neo-Realism as a film movement. The film is divided up into six sections with none of the stories crossing over to the other. I wished that the film was one cohesive story but I may have felt this way because of my previous viewing of "Bicycle Thieves." I have always liked the idea of Italian Neo-realism and its ability to capture stories in a realistic way. This is a really great example of an almost documentary style of filmmaking. The cities are real and so are the people. This makes the film more interesting to watch as it is in such a natural state. The characters in each story, particularly the sections that involve children were what moved me the most. Knowing that all of these stories most likely happened at some point makes this film very powerful to see. Even when I was reading previous reviews of the film, it was obvious that many people from other countries truly connected with this film because of how realistic it is. I am lucky enough to say I never experienced any of this turmoil but I can only imagine what kind of intensity the film would bring to my own life had I related to these characters. I would say this isn't my favorite representation of Italian Neo- realism but it is a great glimpse into the history of Italy as well as the history of cinema.

Surprisingly disappointing.

[noahgibbobaker · 6/10 · 24 September 2020]

I was expecting to love paisan as much as I loved Rome, open city, but it is worse in almost every way.

Paisan feels like a way to present a tonne of themes in a short period of time to make a statement rather than tell a good story. Roberto Rossellini's film Rome, open city came out one year before this one, has just as much to say, tells a good story and is technically stellar.

I don't disagree with any of the themes presented in paisan but I don't think they are presented well, they are presented through very on the nose dialogue, almost every time the theme is explored it is through a character just rambling about it for a couple of minutes. I also don't think a film can just rely on having lots of important themes, all of my favourite film explore themes, but they are presented more subtly, these films also have more about them than just the themes.

Paisan is technically so much worse than Rome, open city. I praised open city for having such good ADR for the time, the ADR is paisan is awful, some of the time the characters don't even move their mouths and they are talking, it feels like nobody cared enough to actually talk on set. It's not a technically bad movie though, the cinematography is brilliant and it captures the epic scale of the film very well and the editing is a big improvement from Rossellini's previous film.

My main issues with paisan are the writing and the characters. Like I mentioned earlier the dialogue is very on the nose, along with this it is often very boring to listen to. This is because the characters don't get given any development really, very little time is spent on one group of people so I didn't attach myself to anyone and ended up not caring what happened to anyone.

This is not a bad film by any means but it did not live up to my expectations, I was left feeling disappointed. Fingers crossed Germany year zero is better.

A Fine Dramatic Representation of American Liberation in Italy

[saffell · 8/10 · 21 November 2003]

This film was well done for what Rosselini had. Although I was never a fan of many of these films done with left-over soldiers and bad actors to show what real-life people were like, "Paisan" definitely shows the unity of people joined in a cause. Each episode of the American progress north through Italy the American/Italian relationship become a little more united. Until, finally, in the Po River Valley, the Americans and the Italians are almost indistinguishable from one another. It conveys a good message through a good medium.

The on-location shooting was a plus, too. For people who have been to Firenze, Napoli, Sicilia, Roma, or any of the locations in this film, it is a stunning sight to see places you know crawling with Nazis and Allies struggling. It endows the movie with a sense of realism that it needs badly. It needs this realism because the acting is horrendous. Of course, the unskilled acting was supposed to convey more realism, but I think it detracts in actuality.

If you are interested in history or Italy during the World War, see this film. It is a good representation of what life was like then, but beware that not everything could be represented ... so it is not all-inclusive. It is a long film, but anyone with an interest will enjoy it immensely, I think.

Rossellini's Paisan

[wadih_ws · 6/10 · 30 April 2011]

Roberto Rossellini's Paisan was a war drama film that basically depressed me. Because it was a long film with five episodes of depression, since people all have a misfortune happen to them in the end. Even more because its lack of a happy ending is what depressed me, but its not part of why what I think of the movie as a whole. Rossellini was set as the founder of Neo Realism, but was mostly underrated and never given much credit to his ability. The movie was a well-made film, with the many stories in it let you see how other people's lives are going on instead of focusing on just one person and his story. How many times have you watched a movie and wondered what happens to another character other than the main character, this movie gives you five different stories that all occurred at the same time and place. There is a story of a drunken black man who ends up spending time with some kids at the black market and he finds out how hard their life is, and has a different outcomes. Another was when a Italian hooker tries to get with a GI who was drunk, but he starts telling her of the girl he once met that was so pure and innocent, and the hooker who just happens to be that same girl and she leaves and gives him a note to go to an address the next morning. Next morning comes and she waits for him, but he never shows up because he thought the note was phony. This movie just has a lot of unfortunate endings occur to show that not everyone gets a happy ending in this life, and those who do are the ones who worked hard for it.

I didn't like it much, but with the poor reproduction, who can really tell for sure.

[TooShortforThatGesture · 4/10 · 12 December 2005]

I can't say I agree with the praise heaped on this movie. I really enjoyed Open City, but here the amateurish acting, I feel, really hurts the movie. In the first sequence, in particular, I had to resist just turning the movie off, it was so bad.

Moreover, the structure of the film, while an interesting thing to attempt, didn't really work for me. The characters are only briefly limned and (spoiler coming) there's a tragic/weird twist to the end of each story, so that you just start anticipating the twist. I ended up feeling as if I were watching a series of poorly filmed O. Henry stories after a while.

I will also add my voice to the complaints about the quality of the tape I watched. Regardless of what I think, this film is considered an important one by an important director. The awful visual and sound quality -- and the poor translations/lack of full translations certainly are a sin. Who has the DVD rights and why haven't they acted on them?

Neorealism at its best

[diogoal-2 · 8 July 2003]

Just when you thought that the cinema form had lost its capacity to carry an important social message without the use of artsy-fartsy rethoric, there comes "Paisà"; a masterpiece for the ages. Rosselini is a name that must be spoken of in all schools and universities of the world. His ability (combined to a perfect script) to convey emotional meaning in film with the use of non-professional actors, natural locations, and still be able to make it VIBRANT and EXCITING... it´s uncanny. The power of the stories told in "Paisà", although very distant in time and geography (for me, anyways) compells any intelligent human being to stand up against every kind of dictatorship and violence. On top of all that, Rosselini doesn´t use cheap tricks to win the public´s heart through melodramatics. His films are very down-to-earth and often take a distance from their main characters, which helps our rational analysis of the situation without being blinded by passion. Like Brecht used to do, i think.

All six stories are my favorites, but I particularly like the monastery segment. It portrays religious prejudice by christian monks towards two priests, one jewish and another a lutheran, right in the middle of the war. To the absurdity of all, the monks come to the priests´ companion, a Christian, to make them realize "the true path". One more time, Rosselini doesn´t end the segment with lessons of moral; its ending is very ambiguous and ironic. "Paisà" is a gem; i like it better than "Roma, Città Aperta", also a masterpiece of neorealism.

The Premiere Italian Neorealist Film

[brahmbhatt-kirtan · 9/10 · 19 April 2011]

Paisa is not a film for the average moviegoer.

Nonetheless, Rosellini's masterpiece should be seen by all World War II enthusiasts because of its reality and sheer rawness. Paisa lacks the polish seen in most films of this period, especially in America and France, and instead chooses to show the events as if they were seen through an actual witness' eyes. The grittiness, the proximity to the war paints this film hues American war films cannot even touch. Each of the six vignettes, at face value, have no connection. But within each one, the viewer gets lost in the protagonists' lives. Where no back story is given, the viewer is forced to fill in the story in order to make sense of the choices made and as a result, the pain in each story becomes that much more poignant. Finally, once the viewer steps back and sees all of these stories again, they see the underlying misery and determination of the protagonists.

The cinematography is simple, yet bold. The scene at the end of the film, where the child, too short to have been hit by bullets, is left crying over the corpse of his family resounds with each viewer and creates questions no one wants to ask or answer. What happens to the child? Does he find a home? We are left to answer, no.

Most people say this film lacks intelligent vision on part of the director because of his decision to use amateur actors and actresses. But herein lies the rawness of the emotions contained in the film. Most of these amateurs suffered through the bloody Italian Campaign. These emotions were still near to their hearts when they played these roles.

Rosellini is magnificent in his succinct use of bombed out buildings and locales that every Italian would know of. Greatest of all is his use of the Duomo and the Signoria in the chapter in Firenze, juxtaposing how the religious and the lawful cannot control the chaos surrounding the young woman in her search for her lover.

All in all, I highly recommend this film to all who are willing to see a "firsthand" view of WWII Italy.

War's "behind-the-scenes"... neorealism to its most historically significant...

[ElMaruecan82 · 9/10 · 8 June 2016]

"Paisa", Roberto Rosselini's chronicles of the Allies' Italian campaign, is a movie like no movie I saw and like no one has ever seen when it came out in 1946. It is really one of a kind, a masterpiece that stood the test of time and it's no wonder Martin Scorsese put it at the top of his favorite movies.

The film is made of six episodes following not only a chronological but geographical story line. The first episode is set the very day the Allies landed in Sicily, their first one in the European continent, in that crucial summer 1943. Sicily marked the beginning of the end for Nazis but what a nightmarish, thrilling and inspirational journey before getting to that triumphant end.

Each episode of "Paisa" ('buddy' in Italian) is set in a specific city: Rome, Napoli or Florence, but it's less in the setting that in the variety of situations that the experience of war is so unique and groundbreaking. For instance, most war movies involve ordinary battles, bridges or railroads to blow, towns to free, prisoners to handle and so forth, but "Paisa" explores in a deeper way situations we generally take for granted. A film like "Patton" shows us the Allies entering in Sicily, but in "Paisa", we're confronted to the first patrols, meeting defiant villagers with the language gap playing a significant part. The most memorable relationship of this segment involves a GI named Joe, from New Jersey and local Carmela, a Sicilian girl who reluctantly guided his patrol to an unoccupied castle through a mine-free way.

The first shades of genius start to show through the communications struggles between two persons who couldn't have been more opposite, yet are united by similar desires: she wants to see her parents, he wants to go home, and when he finally finds a way to communicate, and just when you think we're about to have a love-at-first sight moment, something happens that shows you how war has never been much of a plot-maker, and one way leading to another, after five minutes, with the closing of the first chapter, we're haunted by the story's poignant irony, and we're looking forward to witness similarly humanistic tales. Naturally, they are not of the same emotional resonance, as there's no specific pattern guiding the stories, but all through the film, our hearts swing between contradictory emotions: warmth, humor, anger, sadness and shocks through the outburst of violence, reminding us there's a war, after all.

The second and third chapters are the first to feature non-life threatening situations, one deals with the unlikely relationship between Joe, an African-American soldier, and a little street scamp who reminded me of the 'Shoeshine" kids (actually, the story has something to do with shoes) but it's so unlike the first one that we're a bit puzzled before getting the emotional implications of its ending. The third chapter is interesting too in the way it takes place in the aftermath of liberated towns, and plays like an ironic twist on the typical images of pretty girls kissing their liberators. Indeed, the disillusion caused by war ends up affecting 'innocent' girls. Of course, when compared to killings or rapes, prostitution strikes as the lesser of two evils, but the story again, defies all the conventional implications of a love story, quickly sacrificed on the altar of war's inner sleaziness.

The following episodes are more in line with the usual war material, especially the fourth one featuring an American nurse and an Italian resistant running through Florence in the midst of a ferocious battle between Italian partisans, Nazis and their die-hard fascist allies, in a desperate quest to find their loved ones, her lover, a legendary resistant named 'Lupo' and his family. The ending echoes the Sicilian chapter. Finally, the last one is perhaps the grittiest and ugliest, but a necessity when you consider the anti-war statement the film makes: partisans, who are seen in previous chapters are mercilessly shot by the Germans on the basis that they are not covered by the Geneva conventions, their execution is not without protests, nor sanctions to these protests. The film questions the pretensions of civilization, how can civilization orders destruction, killings, how can it destroy human feelings such as life and love.

Which leads me to the most puzzling chapter, where three American chaplains are welcomed to stay in a Roman monastery. It's a place of peace and quietness and for a while, it seems that there is nothing but mutual respect and gratitude between the men, until the monks learn that two chaplains happen to be Jewish and protestant, lost souls as they say. Indeed, at a time where humanity lost its soul, literally, where war has proved to be the anti-thesis of civilization, the monks' reactions is simply perplexing. I don't think there was any anti-religious undertone to it (remember the heroic priest who prayed for an atheist Communist in "Rome, Open City") but more of a way to show how ironically lost, the men who never really got in touch with war, ended up being. This is one of the many ironies, the brilliant, multi-layered and Oscar-nominated screenplay is full of.

And this is to the credit of Roberto Rosselini and the six writers, including Fellini, who made these chapters, to have assembled these slices of Italian and American lives at a time where Italy was trying to restore some of its lost dignity. And a film like "Paisa" is a powerful homage to the souls that were either killed or destroyed by war. On a technical point, some images get a bit blurry, some actors are less professional than others, but it is so obvious that most of the film was shot like a documentary, that these flaws are small prices to pay for such a historical magnitude, this is as far as neo-realism could ever go.

All is fair in love and liberation

[CoolReviewBro · 7/10 · 2 March 2011]

General Sherman himself said that "war is Hell" and while Paisan indeed reflects this wartime quote the film is not all doom and gloom. Paisan instead seems to give a wartime portrayal that focuses on the little details that represent a larger reality of what war is like for the many parties involved in the Italian liberation. Paisan will take the viewer through six non-connected episodes that each tell a distinct, meaningful, and illustrious story in themselves. Most notable for me were episodes one and two.

Episode one begins in Sicily and tells the story of a young Sicilian girl aiding American troops in their anxiety ridden arrival in Sicily. Like Paisan's ending episode, the first episode does not go well with blood shed on behalf of Nazi troops (with the film's "first blood" being shed by a sharpshooting Nazi sniper). While the Germans in the film seem to be portrayed in a negative light, episode one is interesting for its apt portrayal of German humor in ironically awful wartime circumstances.

Episode two tells the story of two separate interactions between an African American MP and a young Italian boy. Split in two parts from the perspective of the MP (off-duty/drunk and on-duty/sober) we witness a small series of events that seem to reflect a twisted "home is home, be it ever so humble" message for the MP. Indeed, I found this scene to be most powerful in delivering this subtle message as the MP in his drunk state repeatedly tells the boy he doesn't want to go back to America to his "shack of a home." Later, the MP witnesses a young boy stealing from a supply truck. Upon apprehending the boy the MP discovers that it was the same boy he met during his previous off-duty drunk adventure. After chastising and hassling the boy to teach him a lesson, the MP discovers that the boy is a wartime orphan who lives in abject poverty with no home at all. Upon realization, the MP abruptly runs away and ignores the boy's prior mischievous behavior. It is small, disconnected stories sans closure like this that make up Paisan. Watching Paisan in its entirety for the other episodes will indeed be well worth your time.

Paisà!

[andrabem · 10/10 · 16 May 2007]

"Paisà" is one of greatest films in the history of cinema - it shows the Second World War in Italy, from the Anglo-American landing in Sicily to the fight led by Americans and partisans in Northern Italy during the last months of the war. Nonprofessional actors (Italians, Americans, British and Germans) speaking their own languages, are used to show the conflicting forces, giving a kaleidoscope feel to the film.

"Paisà" is an epic but not in the hollywoodian way. This film has the feeling of truth. It shows the war and the people involved in it and gives you glimpses of cruelty, tenderness, idealism, lives shattered and crushed, beauty and horror. It is not like the traditional American war movies in which there are big battles led by cardboard people, in which the good guys fight the bad guys and, of course, the good ones always win.

When I was a kid - having seen many western and war movies - Indians and Nazis didn't look that different to me - the first ones rode horses and shot arrows, while the second ones drove tanks and shot machine guns - they were the bad guys.

Now to "Paisà". There are 6 episodes - they offer a wide panorama of what the fight in Italy must have been like. This film is a must-see for history buffs and/or cinema lovers . I will give you an idea of the stories.

Possible spoilers ahead!

I think that there are no real spoilers ahead - nothing that you won't find on the back cover of the DVD, but if you want to watch the film with no previous knowledge at all, don't go ahead! Here it goes:

1st) The Americans land in Sicily - it is the story of Joe, an American soldier, and Maria, a Sicilian peasant girl. A moving story, worthy of the Greek drama, is told with brisk strokes and few words.

2nd) The Americans in Naples - A black GI meets a homeless Neapolitan boy (or the other way around). The kid does what he can in order to survive - stealing and so on . In the beginning the soldier is angry with him. Afterwards, he makes a deeper acquaintance with the squalor and poverty in which most Neapolitans have to live. He is left speechless. Does it ring a bell for him?

3rd) The Americans in Rome - the Americans enter Rome acclaimed by the people, they are applauded, girls throw flowers to the soldiers... In this moment, an American soldier gets to know a roman girl. She invites him to her house and offers him water. After refreshing himself he has to leave her in order to join the parading soldiers. This was just a chance meeting, they will not see each other again. Six months later.....

4th) The fight in Florence - the Germans still hold Florence. An American nurse and an Italian meet in a hospital located in an area already liberated by the allies. They intend to enter Florence. He is looking for his family and she looks for the man she loves....

5th) A convent in Northern Italy - this episode is the only one that takes place in a peaceful place - a convent - but one can say that maybe it's the most ironic story of the lot. Three American priests pay visit to a convent and ask for lodgings for some days. One is a catholic priest, the other one is a protestant and the third one is of the Jewish faith. The monks are horrified when they discover that a Jew and a protestant are inside their convent. A hot theological debate ensues. It's almost funny: Europe being plunged into a blood bath, and people inside the safe walls of a convent discussing metaphysical questions! A symbol for alienation. Well, this is my reading. I think that Rossellini just tells the story and leaves the interpretation to the viewer, but anyway it's an interesting story. See it for yourself.

6th) Fight in Northern Italy - American soldiers fight together with Italian partisans against superior German forces. Americans and Italians are encircled. The fight is desperate....

This is a beautiful film. It will show you the many sides of the war that war films normally don't show. Because, in reality, war is everything: not just the battles and soldiers, but the cities, people, love, hunger, children, loneliness, hope. Some way or other, the whole community takes part in a war and the victims are not just the killed and wounded, but everyone.

"Paisà" will give you a living and moving picture of the war in Italy. It's a great film.

Good

[Cosmoeticadotcom · 7/10 · 7 June 2012]

Having grown up amongst many folks of Italian descent, the term paisan, or pal, was quite familiar to me; especially when used by non-Italians to describe Italian friends of theirs. A similar meaning is conveyed with the use of the term as the title of the second film in Robert Rossellini's War Trilogy. Paisan (Paisá), from 1946, is not nearly as well known as Rome Open City, his first trilogy film, but it is a significantly better film, as well as being more truly a Neo-Realist film than its more melodramatic predecessor. Part of the reason is that the 126 minute film is episodic, so that the mawkishness and melodrama, that is inherent in many war stories, never gets to the point of overwhelm. Made and released a year after Rome Open City, Paisan often played on double bills with the earlier film when it was released in America. The film is set during 1943 and 1944, and each of the six episodes follows the Allies' chronological battles northward through Italy. Each episode highlights willful or mistaken miscommunication between the Allies, the Italians, and the Nazis. The film won many awards, in its day, but curiously languished while other Neo-Realist films became exalted as classics. While not, overall, a great film, three of the episodes reach heights that contain great moments, and these are enough to argue the film passes the near-great threshold, meaning reasonable arguments can be made in its favor. Those episodes are the third, the fourth, and the sixth and final one. The others range from bad to solid. All the episodes open with narration by Giulio Panicali.

Slice of WWII Life

[evanston_dad · 8/10 · 20 September 2021]

Vignette films by definition are usually unsatisfying to me. "Paisan" doesn't completely buck that trend, but as these kinds of films go, it's one of the better ones I've seen. What makes it fascinating is that it was filmed on actual locations shortly after the war, so there's an authentic immediacy to it that is lacking from studio productions that try to recreate WWII on sets. This film is also a reminder that no matter how tough it was for America to weather the war, it was nothing compared to what people in Europe had to contend with.

All of the episodes are quite touching, and the last one is disturbing as well. After five plaintive, poetic stories, the last one is jarringly brutal and ends the film on a weirdly abrupt note.

I still prefer a film that tells one cohesive story, but this one is worth a watch both as an example of the type of international cinema being produced during the war and as a time capsule of what the war was like for people living with it in their backyards.

No fewer than five writers, Federico Fellini and Robert Rossellini among them, shared a Best Story and Screenplay nomination at the 1949 Academy Awards for their work on "Paisan."

Grade: A.

Paisan review

[bradh6886 · 7/10 · 12 January 2021]

The episodic format was questionable but had benefits, such as being able to focus on narrow themes without shoehorning them together. Technically flawed but so was technology of the time. Resonates after the fact but hard to keep eyes open during.

Powerful film about an important time for Italy

[josedivs · 8/10 · 16 January 2007]

This is the middle part of Rossellini's guerra trilogy and (having already seen Roma Citta Aperta) I am eager to track down a copy of the third part to see where Rossellini goes with it.

Going back to the idea he originally had for Roma Citta Aperta, Rossellini has created a pretty accurate and informative film. While there is one scene which to me stood out as being out of context with the rest of the film, I really enjoyed the use of amateur actors to help make it seem more real and I think the film is all the better for it.

I am not anything like a cinema expert, especially on the technical aspects of it; but I could not help but be impressed by the way the episodes in the film are linked together and that events which happen at different times and in different places all seem part of the one story (except for one episode as I already mentioned above).

I would love to see it on DVD as the copy I bought on video only has sound in the 3rd episode.

Great Example of Neo-realism

[cocomariev · 6/10 · 11 May 2011]

Robert Rossellini series of short stories will have you at the edge of your seat. From romance to action, each story vividly portrays the Italian Neo-realist style. Paisan touches base on documentary, society and politics. I think that Rossellini did great job at hiring non- professional actors in order to incorporate them within the backdrop of the scenes. The storyline was also very detailed and made it seem like it was more of a documentary than an actual fictional film. The movie had me guessing at some points which kept me interested throughout the film. I noticed that Rossellini left room for us to fill in the story, letting us take on our own interpretation on things. For example, in each of the stories we don't really know much about the protagonist and I found myself creating their backgrounds in my mind. He did a wonderful job at inspiring emotion whether it be positive or negative. I have to admit that before I watched this film in class I was a bit skeptical. I definitely think that it portrays great characteristics of of neo- realism. One of the scenes that I thought was really interesting was when the baby is alone with no one to comfort or take care of him/her. It made me extremely sad but did a great job at illustrating the nature of war. He did a great job at illustrating Italy during World War II. I thought he provided several elements for us to choose from, giving us something to relate to and become emotionally attached to. Rossellini did a fantastic job at creating and directing a film that seemed extremely real. He blurred the lines between documentary and fiction beautifully. Now I see why he was very respected for his films.

Review and Analysis

[eksrox-40-902286 · 4/10 · 28 April 2011]

Paisa is an important and well-known postwar Italian neorealist film. Is made up of six vignettes that are about the Allied invasion from July 1943 until the winter of 1944. They focus on the relationships between the freed Italian people and the Americans as their liberators. They begin in Sicily and end in Venice. A group of soldiers need an escort through the minefield terrain because they are not familiar. A woman offers to lead them, but ends up dying trying to protect one of the soldiers, but the Yanks think that she killed him. Then, a orphan boy steals the shoes from a soldier. The soldier becomes angry and follows the boy back to his town. In another story, a soldier meets a lady during the time where Rome was being liberated. She ends up being a prostitute. The United States nurse decides to chase her lover during the middle of the war, and there is much miscommunication between the characters. In the next one, there is a long and rather humorous discussion between a Catholic, Protestant, Jew, and a group of monks. The film ends with a lengthy and violent battle in the Po Valley with the OSS and a band of Germans who will not surrender. Each story in this film supports a different theme, tone, and set of characters. While regular movies are constricted to one or two themes, Paisa is not limited to this because of the fact that there are six stories. This allows for much more creative license to display different positive and negative aspects of this war. There are some historical facts within this film which allows it to not only be considered a creative masterpiece, but be applauded for its historical document.