Il generale della Rovere (1959)

Director:

Roberto Rossellini

Writers:

Sergio Amidei (writer)
Diego Fabbri (writer)

Release Date:

21 November 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Genoa, 1943. Grimaldi is a swindler, pretending to be a colonel in the Italian army to get money from the family of people put into jail by the Nazis...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Resistance | General | Gestapo | Rome Italy

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 10 wins

Cast

Vittorio De Sica	...	Victorio Emanuele Bardone / Grimaldi
Hannes Messemer	...	S.S. Colonel Mueller
Vittorio Caprioli	...	Aristide Bianchelli
Nando Angelini
Herbert Fischer	...	Sergeant
Mary Greco	...	Vera (the madam)
Bernardo Menicacci
Lucia Modugno	...	Partisan girl
Luciano Pigozzi
Kurt Polter	...	German officer
Giuseppe Rosetti	...	Pietro Valeri
Kurt Selge	...	Schrantz
Linda Veras	...	German attendant
Sandra Milo	...	Valeria
Giovanna Ralli	...	Olga

Also Known As:

General della Rovere (USA)
Le général della Rovere (France)

Runtime:

132 min | USA:129 min | Italy:138 min (Venice Film Festival)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Zebra Film

Trivia:

During an interview to the Italian public television, Vittorio De Sica stated that the movie was shot in 33 days and edited in 10.

A measured story of spiritual growth

An understated masterpiece, this film charts the moral growth in nearly the worst of times of Victorio Grimaldi played by Vittorio De Sica. Other comments set out the main lines of the plot and note the excellence of de Sica as the not good, but not all-bad Grimaldi who is just trying to survive, like everyone else. But it evolves in a story of one man trying to live up to the expectations of others, who have had it even harder than he has. Planted in the prison to impersonate the heroic General della Rovere, Grimaldi slowly begins to act like the leader that Rovere was. In one touching scene, while under a terrifying bombardment, he cowers in his cell only to stiffen himself to shout out encouragement to the others, before collapsing in prayer and mortal dread. In this two or three minute episode we learn more about courage than from a score of action movies and thrillers. And of course Grimaldi learns something about himself, too, in a way, and also something about General della Rovere. Toward the end Grimaldi takes on the role of the now dead general so completely that he writes a letter to the general's wife encouraging her to persevere, while he willingly faces execution by the Germans to set an example to other Italians to resist. It is a powerful story of growth, self-realization, and redemption in terrible conditions, though there is also a hint of Italian patriotism, too. The film is hard to get but I managed it a few years ago on VHS, so seekers, persist! It is worth the effort.