Customer Reviews

General della Rovere (1959) ( Il Generale della Rovere ) ( Le Général della Rovere ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Italy ]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really wasn't too sure what to expect when I sat down to watch "General Della Rovere" this evening. The notes suggested that I would be watching a movie about a scoundrel. It didn't take long to find out that I was, in fact, watching a movie about a scoundrel. But oh what a scoundrel! There was an aspect to the preformance of Vittorio de Sica that oozed the suave, debonaire, coolness of a man who wanted others to know that he cares...so long as the money is paid up front. Our "hero" Bardone runs a sort of war-time Ponzi scheme with all the promises and down payments. It doesn't take long to realize that there's only one person Bardone really cares about. Heck, I even caught myself sensing an inner heart of gold just before another sucker gets taken. All along I found myself engrossed in this man, his victims and the others who played a role in his theatre.

Eventually, things take a turn in a variety of ways. At that point I had no idea what was going to be the outcome. As a favor to you, I'll let you have the same opportunity. I was more than satisfied with the ending although it wasn't exactly what I expected.

There is a professionalism to "General Della Rovere" that had it scoring high in my book. The directing, the interpositioning of newsreel footage and cinematic creation, the sense of uncertainty, the excellent preformances from top to bottom; all this and more was very impressive. Above all was the role of Vittorio de Sica whose mascarade had already fooled us enough times that we were on our own as to what to believe about him. I kept trying to figure out where I had seen the German Colonel before until I recalled that he was the camp commander in "The Great Escape". His performance in this film was equally compelling.

All during "General Della Rovere" I kept thinking of a recent film I had seen entitled "Bread, Love and Dreams". It was an older Italian movie that had been around long enough to have been dubbed in English. In viewing that film I was left with the choice of an expressionless Enlish or a demonstrative and incomprehenisble Italian. I chose the former and came away disappointed. I thought of that film because de Sica's delivery in "General Della Rovere" was in a class by itself. I watched the subtitles to keep track of the plot; I listened to the actors to keep track of the emotional impact. The dubbed de Sica in "Bread, Love and Dreams" had no emotional impact which is why I always try to view a foreign-language film in the original presentaion (with English subtitles). "General Della Rovere" is one of the best examples of why that makes such a difference.

Here is a story about "the only Italian hero" of World War II. Of course it IS dated, along with the other great Italian films of the period. Still a pleasure to see.

Roberto Rossellini may be the single most under-appreciated director in the history of cinema. While Fellini has risen to god-like status, Rossellini remains rather obscure to the vast majority of modern film viewers, and that's a shame. Bertolucci, Antonioni, Visconti, etc, have all received more attention in the age of DVD, while Rossellini's films have been practically ignored. But, as Martin Scorsese once said: "He is the father of us all," and that oversight is finally being rectified. As chic as the New Wave remains, the neo-realism of Rossellini is one of the most enlightening, powerful, and exciting eras in cinema.

This absorbing look at the Italian resistance during World War II rates among his more interesting films. Though not as arresting as his earlier Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy (Rome Open City/Paisan/Germany Year Zero) (Criterion Collection) (Which is also available from Criterion as of January, 2010, and may be the single greatest release from the esteemed company!), it is nonetheless riveting in its own unique way. Again he makes use of old footage and finds piles of rubble to add to the sense of the time. The humor is dark, but then so were the times, and the final act really comes together as our faulty hero reassesses his life and his place in a nation being torn apart by war. De Sica is truly magnificent here, and he alone is reason enough to give this a thumbs up...one of the great performances of his career - and remember, while an esteemed director, he also acted in over 150 films!

For a lower-tier criterion release, there are also some great extras here, particularly the interviews with Rossellini's family members, Isabella among them, and their memories of the film and where it fits in his career. As usual, Tab Gallagher steps up and contributes an excellent video essay as well. These innovative features he has done on different Rossellini discs are among the coolest uses of the format. It ads some great context to the film's narrative, and really hits at the heart of Italy's national conscience that was so tortured in the 1950s - having of course to reconcile their contributions and suffering during the War. It was only in the late 50s that it became possible to look back, for naturally in the immediate aftermath it was just too painful to do so. So in some ways Rossellini contributes to the healing by suggesting even a worthless con man was a nationalist at heart...but it's naive to suggest that is all that is going on here. Nevertheless, the context is absolutely imperative to understanding and appreciating Il Generale Della Rovere.

In short, you really can't go wrong with Rossellini, and you can do a lot worse than this little-known gem from the late 50s. The recent output from Criterion will hopefully help to bring his canon into the limelight, and we can only home more is on the way - how about a Rossellini-Bergman Box Criterion?!?!??!

Any movie released by Criterion is worth owning: even if you're not familiar with the film or it's not a favorite, they're sure to include so many valuable extras that you'll get your money's worth and appreciate the film's significance as time passes on. Il Generale Della Rovere ($29.95; Criterion) is a Roberto Rosselini film starring director Vittorio De Sica (I'm always surprised when he acts but De Sica acted in hundreds of movies). De Sica plays a con man forced by the Nazis to impersonate a general and get info from Italian prisoners. For the first time, the bum feels a twinge of conscience. Extras include interviews and a visual essay. Visit me at michaelgiltz dot com.

Il Generale Della Rovere was one of Roberto Rossellini's most successful films (winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival), commercially, and there is a simple reason why. It's not that good a film. It's a rather formulaic film, slathered with faux patriotic sloganeering, whitewashed politics, and a rather banal cinematic approach. Rossellini was, along with the film's star, Vittorio De Sica, one of the two big name directors of what was known as Italian Neo-Realism. But, while 1945's Rome: Open City was also a financial success for Rossellini, he went almost fifteen years between that success and this one, in 1959. De Sica, however, had more commercial and critical success in the interim.

The film's plot is supposedly based on real life events that took place in World War Two, after Italy switched sides, leaving the Axis and joining the Allies. However, there has been dispute, among historians, over whether the tale is true or not, and just how much of the tale, if true, is apocryphal, or the result of hagiography, because it was based on a novel by Indro Montanelli. The tale follows the life of a petty conman named Victorio Emanuele Bardone (De Sica), who uses a bunch of assorted aliases (including that of a phony Italian colonel named Grimaldi) to run his assorted scams and schemes, fleecing attractive women (wannabe actresses and prostitutes) and desperate families who are willing to pay him for information on the whereabouts of relatives who have been arrested by the Nazis. The black and white film runs for 2 hours and 13 minutes, and the first 45 or so minutes follows the escapades of Bardone, and watching him gamble and lose, fleece his suckers, and generally act in unethical ways, is the best part of the film. Especially good is watching him interact with a Nazi colonel named Muller (Hannes Messemer), for both men are essentially the same person, phonies who are out to wreak havoc in the world. The one difference is that Muller actually has fangs, and is willing to use them, whereas Bardone lacks the fangs and the will.

This is one of those films that I can marginally recommend viewing, if only because it illuminates the better work being done at the same time, like Fellini's La Dolce Vita. On its own, however, Il Generale Della Rovere is vastly overrated and a disappointing film in not only Rossellini's canon, but that of Italian cinema, despite its financial success. Hollywood was not alone in this regard. Why it was so critically well regarded, however, is a mystery, since its flaws are apparent. Then, again, never underestimate the power of patriotic screeds, especially when the legend looms larger than the man. Damn, I didn't know Rossellini loved John Ford.

Il Generale Della Rovere is a film directed by Roberto Rossellini.

It follows the true World War II era story of an Italian pickpocket that is hired by the Nazis to impersonate a dead Italian general. Under this persona he interrogates a prisoner to gain tactical information.

The film is very interesting and found it to have some good scenes.

The special features are a theatrical trailer, interviews with Roberto Rossellini's family members, and a video essay about the film.