I have chosen to do my journal entries on films dealing with revolutions. All of the films I have chosen deal with the theme of over throwing the old regime.
             Open City was one of the first films out of post-war Europe; in fact, it was shot right after the liberation of Rome, with whatever film stock available. Because of this, even the most pristine archival print of the movie will inevitably display visual impurities-film grain and the like, but lots and lots of them. One question I have is why the DVD presentation isn't quite full-screen, but with slight borders all around, when the original aspect ratio was clearly the standard 4:3 of a regular television set.
             The story concerns members of the local resistance and the bystanders around them. The friendly neighborhood cop is sympathetic, but will do nothing. The priest's helper minds his own business. Others have their own lives to lead, or petty fortunes to make. In this environment, Mandfredi, "the Engineer," finds himself on the lam and takes shelter with another partisan, Francesco. But the German authorities are close behind, and their Italian lackeys and informers magnify German policing prowess many fold.... This is an overtly political picture.
             One, which may not have garnered as much attention, had the circumstances surrounding its production been less melodramatic. ( though to be sure it was one of the first to experiment with the "documentary" look or feel technique of presentation.); as such, certain sentiments given expression in the movie may seem manufactured and affected to us today: the monologue expressing love of one's country and fellows, the lecture on trading love for material gain, a speech about the necessity to just survive, no matter what. Some might find the film particularly enjoyable precisely for all its open-handed high-minded moralism; but the matter of appreciation is merely one of degree, for no thinking person with a sense o...