Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Jackson Booth-Millard I found this Italian film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I had no idea what to expect, but a few of the foreign language titles featured in the book have been worthwhile, I hoped this would be another, directed by Roberto Rossellini (Rome, Open City; Europe '51, Journey to Italy). Basically the film is told in six episodes, each focusing on six characters, including resistance workers, nurses and the Allied forces, from July 1943 to the winter of 1944, from Sicily to the north and Venice. These stories include Carmela (Carmela Sazio) guiding an American reconnaissance patrol through a German minefield, orphaned street urchin Pasquale (Alfonsino Pasca) who happens upon and steals the boots of bitter and drunk African-American soldier Joe (Dots Johnson), and drunken American soldier Fred (Gar Moore) finding prostitute Francesca (Maria Michi) who don't at first recognise each other. Also included are American nurse Harriet (Harriet Medin) and desperate partisan Massimo (Renzo Avanzo) risking their lives to get across the Arno river, three American chaplains: Catholic and Italian speaking Captain Bill Martin (William Tubbs), and his two colleagues are a Protestant and a Jew, and finally three members of the OSS (Office of Stratetgic Services) operating behind enemy lines to rescue two downed British airmen in the Po delta. I could tell whilst watching that the cast is made up of unprofessional actors, which accounts for awkwardness of dialogue and performances, it certainly adds to the realism of the documentary style of of filmmaking, but I will be honest and say that I lost track most of the time throughout anyway, and it's not the sort of thing I'd see again, but there were moments that got my attention, overall it is an alright neorealist war drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film from any Source. Worth watching, at least once, in my opinion!

wadih_ws 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.

Emilyjkwin Paisan is an Italian Neo-Realist film presented as six episodes, each distinct from one another. Although the plot is not weaved through the six episodes, nor do characters pass from one to the next, the early concept of this film likely inspired the idea for film's which use this technique. Paisan is very real, shot on location, and as several Italian neo-realist film's were, shot in the ongoing action of the war. As such, some of the dialog is dubbed over in post-production, but the idea is still there. If you can accept the roughness, or perhaps embrace it, the film has something to offer for every part of the audience. Some of the episodes of the film are comedic, while some are more romantic. The first is hard to follow at the start, but as the trust and friendship between the American soldier and the native girl grow, the world presented in Paisan opens up. Rosselini uses some non-professional actors, and a semi-documentary style to depict the lives of the Italian people fighting against fascism. While most of the episodes end bittersweetly, or sadly, the stories themselves are captivating. In one episode a boy steals a soldier's boots while he is sleeping, however it is later seen that the boots were much more valuable to the boy than the soldier in the misfortune that surrounds the local people. The film is great as an aid to understanding the condition of Italy during World War II. At times the plots in each episode may take a while to develop, but if you can keep your attention on the film you won't regret it. The events in the film are realistic, but melancholy, and because the episodes are brief, the actions are frank. Most of the film's audience can find things to relate to, or will find at least one episode of the film to be fairly entertaining.

parkermenn Early in the film, the girl from the church who guides the Americans sounds just like the girl from Godfather II who Michael marries while hiding in Sicily. They're both young and Sicilian. If it were just their voices, I could never tell the difference. Not just voice, but their attitude and demeanor are the same. I've never been to Sicily, but this seems to confirm what a young Sicilian woman sounds like. This authenticity really adds to the goal of Italian neo-realism; the goal of capturing real human behavior and shying away from an actor's "fake" portrayal.Rossellini uses actors and non-actors in the film. It is difficult to separate the two. I think I can safely say all the characters with no dialogue are non-actors. They are extras, hired, dressed (maybe in their own clothing), and placed where need be. The rest with dialogue are harder to distinguish as either actor or non-actor. All the lines seem to be delivered in an amateur way. Even those that may be actors seem to make efforts to seem as stiff and natural and real as would a non-actor appear to be. Close-ups may be the only give away. And this is not always sure. There is a close-up of the Sicilian girl that really shows her emotion and deliberation of what she is about to do. Again, am I deceived? Is she actor or non-actor? At this point, it seems not to matter except for the fact that all the characters are seamlessly woven into the story. There are none who give an obvious performance. There are none who stick out or are identifiable were it not for the credits, which I don't pay attention to anyways. What remains is praise for Rossellini's vision and execution.