Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy

Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy

Roberto Rossellini is one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. And it was with his trilogy of films made during and after World War II—Rome Open City, Paisan, and Germany Year Zero—that he left his first transformative mark on cinema. With their stripped-down aesthetic, largely nonprofessional casts, and unorthodox approaches to storytelling, these intensely emotional works were international sensations and came to define the neorealist movement. Shot in battle-ravaged Italy and Germany, these three films are some of our most lasting, humane documents of devastated postwar Europe, containing universal images of both tragedy and hope.

Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy

Film Info

  • Spine #500

Films In This Set

Special Features

SPECIAL EDITION THREE-DISC SET:

  • New high-definition digital restorations, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
  • Introductions by director Roberto Rossellini from 1963
  • Interviews from 2009 with scholar Adriano Aprà, critic and Rossellini friend Father Virgilio Fantuzzi, and filmmakers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
  • Audio commentary on Rome Open City by scholar Peter Bondanella
  • Once Upon a Time . . . “Rome Open City,” a 2006 documentary on the making of the historic film
  • Rossellini and the City, a 2009 video essay by film scholar Mark Shiel on Rossellini’s use of the urban landscape in The War Trilogy
  • Excerpts from discussions Rossellini had in 1970 with faculty and students at Rice University about his craft
  • Into the Future, a 2009 video essay about The War Trilogy by scholar Tag Gallagher
  • Roberto Rossellini, a 2001 documentary by Carlo Lizzani, assistant director on Germany Year Zero, tracing Rossellini’s career through archival footage and interviews with family members and collaborators, with tributes by filmmakers François Truffaut and Martin Scorsese
  • Letters from the Front: Carlo Lizzani on “Germany Year Zero,” a discussion with Lizzani from the 1987 Tutto Rossellini conference
  • Italian credits and prologue for Germany Year Zero
  • Roberto and Roswitha, a 2009 illustrated essay by scholar Thomas Meder on Rossellini’s relationship with Roswitha Schmidt
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by James Quandt, Irene Bignardi, Colin MacCabe, and Jonathan Rosenbaum

Purchase Options

Films In This Set

Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy

Special Features

SPECIAL EDITION THREE-DISC SET:

  • New high-definition digital restorations, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
  • Introductions by director Roberto Rossellini from 1963
  • Interviews from 2009 with scholar Adriano Aprà, critic and Rossellini friend Father Virgilio Fantuzzi, and filmmakers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
  • Audio commentary on Rome Open City by scholar Peter Bondanella
  • Once Upon a Time . . . “Rome Open City,” a 2006 documentary on the making of the historic film
  • Rossellini and the City, a 2009 video essay by film scholar Mark Shiel on Rossellini’s use of the urban landscape in The War Trilogy
  • Excerpts from discussions Rossellini had in 1970 with faculty and students at Rice University about his craft
  • Into the Future, a 2009 video essay about The War Trilogy by scholar Tag Gallagher
  • Roberto Rossellini, a 2001 documentary by Carlo Lizzani, assistant director on Germany Year Zero, tracing Rossellini’s career through archival footage and interviews with family members and collaborators, with tributes by filmmakers François Truffaut and Martin Scorsese
  • Letters from the Front: Carlo Lizzani on “Germany Year Zero,” a discussion with Lizzani from the 1987 Tutto Rossellini conference
  • Italian credits and prologue for Germany Year Zero
  • Roberto and Roswitha, a 2009 illustrated essay by scholar Thomas Meder on Rossellini’s relationship with Roswitha Schmidt
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by James Quandt, Irene Bignardi, Colin MacCabe, and Jonathan Rosenbaum