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Born in Rome in 1906, son of the man who opened the first cinema theatre in Italy, the filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, was one of the most influential directors of all time. His neo-realist movies influenced France’s nouvelle vague movement that changed the face of international cinema. He also influenced American directors, as Martin Scorsese.
He debuts on cinema during the ’30s working as editor and director on several short films for the Istituto Luce, from “Daphnè” (Daphne,1936) to “Undersea fantasy” (Fantasia sottomarina, 1939) and “The brook of ripa sottile” (Il ruscello di Ripasottile, 1941).
The same year he made his directing of a feature film debut with a “La nave bianca”, the first segment of a “trilogy of war”, followed by ”A pilot returns” (Un pilota ritorna, 1942) and completed with” Man with a cross” (L’uomo dalla croce, 1943).
He had to wait two years to achieve worldwide fame with the neo-realist manifesto “Rome,Open city” (Roma città aperta 1945), with Anna Magnani his fiancée at the time, followed by other two masterpieces ”Paisan”(Paisà,1946) and ”Germany year zero” (Germania anno zero,1947).
“Stromboli, terra di Dio” (1949) signs the end of the relationship with Anna Magnani and the beginning of his artistic collaboration and love story with Ingrid Bergman, but the scandal of their adulterous affair and marriage damaged their careers.
With this film Rossellini began an artistic journey that led him to investigate the solitude of the individual, that continued in ”The flowers of St Francis” (Francesco, giullare di Dio, 1950), the films “The greatest love” (Europa ’51, 1951) and “Journey to Italy “(Viaggio in Italia, 1954) marked the subsequent steps in this ambitious and fascinating journey.
He later directed “General della Rovere” (1959) and works for the stage and television, including a series of didactic historical works. He died on 3 June 1977, in Rome.
Have a look to our Roberto Rossellini’s board on Pintrest
