That this one was lensed hot on the heels of the long Nazi nacht is nothing less than amazing; the wounds were still fresh, and OPEN CITY cuts no one any slack- from the Nazis themselves, whose nebulous notions of Nationalism set the world ablaze, to the Italian traitors who were all too willing to sell their souls to help them. (And it's amazing how many people there are who would gladly sell their soul, if only there were a buyer. Unfortunately, one sometimes doesn't have to look too far to find a buyer.) This film is about the struggle for human souls. In the end, it's an inside job; it's really that simple. (Exemplified best in the film by the old priest and the boy commandos, whose resistance harks back to the Warsaw ghetto "uprising.") Franz Kafka would've understood (and appreciated) this unflinching look at Man's monumental, totally mindless mercilessness.
Review of Rome, Open City
