Has any other filmmaker displayed Rossellini's ability to consistently capture miracles? EUROPE '51 starts with the nominal language of melodrama before a shock ruptures the formalism and unleashes something else upon the world. And I mean "world" not in its artistic conception of a work's diegetic reality but in the actual sense of the world around us, of a separate but connected web of people who share a moral responsibility toward one another. The tragedy that befalls Bergman in the first act might have been the cruel punishment to end most films, but by positioning it so early, Rossellini forces a confrontation with the world that opens up the frame (and deftly critiques communism's myopic materialism in favor of a…

“The paradise that I dream of, is not only for the living; but, for the departed. Something eternal. And this is my paradise.”

The stunningly beautiful and talented Ingrid Bergman gives yet another amazing performance about a mother who’s suffering from grief because her young son committed suicide. She sets out for true meaning of her own life as she feels that she was the one who caused it or at least could’ve prevented the suicide. This film not only shows the hardships of a mother grieving but it also shows that the self-awakening process and becoming a humanitarian isn’t always an easy path to follow, it comes with hardships. That’s why I adore this film’s message and Bergman’s fine…

Very heartbreaking. Ingrid Bergman makes me forget that the words characters speak are in fact written beforehand and memorized by actors. The examination of morality gets deeper and more intimately urgent as the film progresses, with a second half way more poignant than the first. Those passions, both the pure and the misplaced, that drive us to care for others are dissected with so much conviction, inspiring the viewer not just to do the right thing but to have the right reasons as well. There are times when Irene genuinely bears the fruit of the spirit and other times when you simply can't be sure.

This might be an ignorant hangup but why was the audio syncing actually dreadful? It's…

☆"The love we feel for those closest to us, for those who should be and maybe really are dearest to us, suddenly isn’t enough. It seems too selfish, too narrow, so that we feel the need to share it, to make our love bigger, until it embraces everyone."☆

Two years after their first collaboration in Stromboli, Terra di Dio -- and a torrid affair which caused some American audiences to distance themselves -- Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman come together again in 1952's Europa '51 ["Europe '51"] where the legendary actress takes center stage for another bravura performance, again as a lead with whom it may be difficult to empathize at first. The second film of the Criterion Collection set,…

Afterthoughts: A film of great power that forces us, like its protagonist (played as ever to perfection by Ingrid Bergman), to re-evaluate ourselves in all our selfishness, self-absorption, vanity and materialism.

A devastatingly bleak film, Europe ’51 is yet another exploration of a woman undergoing a radical spiritual transition during a period of marital upheaval. As in Stromboli, and later Voyage to Italy, Rossellini delves into the hardships of a struggling marriage from the female perspective, performing a skilful balancing act in which neorealism and melodrama render the scales perfectly level. Unlike in the other two films mentioned, Europe ’51 takes us to the root cause of the relationship’s disintegration – which is brought on by the death of the…

Part of my 5 Directors x 5 Unseen Films (9) challenge.

Writer-director Roberto Rossellini readily admitted that this film was inspired by his 1950 production "The Flowers of St. Francis." He wanted to explore how a modern-day saint might be treated by society, especially if that saint were a woman. Not surprisingly, he chose his spouse, Ingrid Bergman, to play the lead as Rome's philanthropic socialite Irene Girard. For her husband George, he selected Alexander Knox, and as their son Michele he cast Sandro Franchina.

Irene has a near mental collapse when Michele attempts suicide and later dies of a blood clot. She throws herself into charitable work at the urging of George's cousin Andre Casatti (Ettore Giannini), a much…

Radical Socialist Activist in 1951: "The initiative of the State Department must be considered in relation to the quite obvious intention of American financiers to take the place of England and control the Persian oil fields." Well, you were pretty darn spot on there, bud.

Europa '51 is largely a one-note film. The narrative serves purely to reinforce a tired theme based around the premise that morality and base humanity have been drained from modern society, and that those who opt to act selflessly are perceived as deviants. There is some foresight in the reevaluation of the goals of society with the implementation of benchmarks that were considered controversial at the time or release - moderate socialism, empowered labor unions,…

[This review was written in 1953 but only published for the first time in French in Vol. 4 (“Une Esthetique de la realite: le neorealisme”) of Bazin’s Qu’est-ce que le cine­ma? (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1958-62), pp. 97-99.]

The year began with a misunderstood masterpiece (De Sica’s Umberto D.), and it ended with an accursed masterpiece, Roberto Rossellini’s Europe ’51 (a.k.a. The Greatest Love, 1952). Just as critics had reproached De Sica for making a social melodrama, they accused Rossellini of indulging in a confused, indeed reactionary, political ideology. They were once again wrong for the most part, for they were passing judgment on the subject without taking into consideration the style that gives it its meaning and its aesthetic…

At first I wasn’t sure what the point was of Europa ‘51. It’s a movie that sneaks up on you because the early scenes are not at all about the same thing as everything that comes after. I kept thinking this was going to be a family drama, or some kind of political drama, but I was wrong. I quite like the development of this plot, because it shows how traumatic events can help shape our lives, and change who we are. At the start of this film I didn’t care all that much for Ingrid Bergman’s character, and I was a bit frustrated at the prospect of following her for the full runtime of this movie. Little did I…