“Paisà.” A corrupted word from the Italian-American “paesano,” roughly translated as “buddy,” “countryman,” or “neighbor,” often used by American soldiers during the war as a friendly way of greeting their Italian comrades.
The word underscores the entire philosophical tenor and humanist soul of Rossellini’s avant-garde masterpiece, a defining film of the neorealist movement that is much closer to traditional definitions of neorealism than his previous work. Nonprofessional actors, authentic locations, and documentary newsreel techniques are all in full force, with…
