The Rossellinis

THE ROSSELLINIS

In 1945, Roberto Rossellini directed Open City, a movie about the Nazi occupation of Rome during World War II. No one had ever seen a movie like it - many thought it was a documentary. It started the neo-realism movement in film and influenced almost all of the new breed of filmmakers who came to prominence in the 60s and 70s. This film examines not the movies, but the man and his family. Married with children, Roberto's meeting with famous Hollywood actress, Ingrid Bergman, changed both of their lives irretrievably. They both left spouses to live with each other, causing a worldwide scandal. The family that emerged was truly international. This film is made by Alessandro Rossellini, son of the famous director's son, Renzo, and an African-American dancer, Katherine. Alessandro made the film as a kind of family therapy, all suffering from what he calls 'Rossellini-itis,' a disease causing various ailments such as high expectations and constant media scrutiny. Emerging as the modern matriarch is Isabella Rossellini, the famous actress/model. While it is not clear what Alessandro hopes to accomplish in this film, he does show us a modern, international family that has dealt with many of the problems most modern families have to deal with, for example, addiction and wildly different economic fortunes.

This is a very interesting documentary about a big and famous family. The director, who is a grandchild of Roberto Rosselini, has made a loving portrait of his aunts and uncles. The director seems to be a nice and warm person and he has much love for his family living across the world.

My observations about the family after having watched it is that Ingrid Bergman's daughter Ingrid Rosselini is the true beauty of the family. Elletra, Isabella's daughter, would not be working as a model if it were not for her famous mother. The scene with Isabella modelling on the runway with her children is lame.

The scenes of the director with his mother were the most touching in the film and is what stays with me. There seems to be a warm close bond between them despite them not having seen each other for years. Those scenes were the most hopeful and intimate.