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5 DVD set of the following Rossellini films at a discounted price (see the individual films for screenshots and film samples):
LA NAVE BIANCA (1941):
Durante la seconda guerra mondiale, i marinai imbarcati su una nave da battaglia della Regia Marina Italiana, intrattengono una fitta corrispondenza epistolare con le madrine di guerra. Il marò fuochista Augusto Basso scambia le sue lettere con Elena Fondi, una maestrina di scuola elementare. Elena ha diviso in due pezzi una medaglietta, metà l'ha tenuta lei e metà l'ha inviata ad Augusto. I due si danno appuntamento alla stazione ferroviaria di Taranto, ma quando Augusto sta per sbarcare, la nave salpa improvvisamente per prendere parte ai combattimenti di Punta Stilo e di Capo Teulada. Durante i combattimenti, molti marinai vengono feriti tra cui lo stesso Basso che deve subire un intervento chirurgico. Caricato sull'idrovolante sanitario viene trasferito sulla nave ospedale Arno e affidato alle cure delle Infermiere del Corpo Volontario. Tra queste vi è anche Elena.
During the Second World War, the sailors onboard a battleship of the Royal Italian Navy maintain a regular correspondence with female penpals. The stoker Augusto Basso exchanges his letters with a young woman named Elena, a teacher in an elementary school. Elena has split a medal into two halves, keeping hers and sending one to the young seaman. The two are to meet for the first time at a train station in Taranto; but just as Augusto is to go on leave, the ship suddenly sails off to take part in the naval battles at Calabria and Capo Teulada. During the battle, many sailors are wounded, including Augusto, who must undergo surgery. He is transferred to the hospital ship "Arno" and entrusted to the care of volunteer nurses ... one of whom just happens to be Elena.
DVD-R is in Italian with switchable English subtiles. Approx. 69 minutes + a 22 minute newsreel.
UN PILOTA RITORNA (1942):
1941. Durante la campagna di Grecia, Gino, un pilota di un aereo da bombardamento italiano, colpito dalla contraerea è costretto a lanciarsi con il paracadute, viene fatto prigioniero dagli inglesi e costretto ai lavori forzati in un campo di concentramento. Durante lo spostamento dei prigionieri, Gino conosce Anna, figlia del medico italiano che assiste gli italiani imprigionati e se ne innamora ricambiato. Durante un bombardamento notturno, Gino riesce ad evitare le sentinelle nemiche per salire a bordo di un aereo decollare e dirigersi verso l'Italia.
1941. During the campaign in Greece, Gino, an Italian bomber pilot, is hit by flak and forced to bail. Taken prisoner by the British, he's forced to work in a concentration camp. During a transport of prisoners, Gino meets Anna, the daughter of an Italian doctor assisting imprisoned Italians. He falls in love and his feelings are reciprocated. During a bombing one night, Gino managed to elude the British sentries and steals a plane to fly back to Italy.
DVD-R is in Italian with switchable English subtitles. Also included is a contemporary German newsreel (19mins.). Total time: 99 mins.
L'UOMO DALLA CROCE (1943):
Ucraina, fronte russo, estate del 1942: un reparto di carri armati del C.S.I.R. di ritorno da una azione di guerra, riceve l'ordine di spostare altrove il proprio campo base per favorire una manovra bellica. Uomini e mezzi si spostano secondo il piano stabilito, tranne il cappellano militare del reparto che rimane ad assistere un carrista ferito non trasportabile. Catturato dai russi riesce a fuggire e trova rifugio insieme al ferito in un casolare, dove ha modo di esplicare il suo apostolato tra donne e bambini che vi si sono rifugiati.
The Russian Front in the Ukraine in the Summer of 1942. A unit of Italian tanks returning from battle receives an order to relocate their base to support an offensive action. The men and machines move according to plan, except for the unit’s chaplain, who remains behind to care for a wounded tank gunner, who can’t be moved because of his serious injuries. Captured by the Soviets, he manages to escape and find refuge in a cottage, where he’s able to spread the word of God among Russian refugees. Dedicated to all those chaplains, “who died bringing God to a land without God”, the movie is incredibly almost anti-War and compassionate in its treatment of the enemy. That this film was able to get past fascist censors speaks a great deal about Italian Fascism versus that of their so-called German allies. By the end of the year this film was put out, Italy surrendered.
DVD-R is in Italian with switchable English subtitles.
There is a German newsreel along with the film, which was put out about the time this film came into circulation.
Approx. 84 minutes total.
ROME OPEN CITY (1945):
Made just months after the end of the Second World War in Europe, Rome, Open City tells the story of the brutal German occupation of Italy in the closing days of the War. The film opens with German soldiers searching for Giorgio Manfredi, who eludes them by jumping around roofs. A priest, Don Pietro Pellegrini, helps the resistance transmit messages and money. The Gestapo commander in the city, with the help of the Italian police commissioner, captures Giorgio and the priest, and interrogates Giorgio violently. They attempt to use Pietro's religious beliefs to convince him to betray his cause, citing that he allies himself with atheists. Pietro responds that anyone who strives to help others is on that path of God whether they believe in Him or not. They then force Pietro to watch as Giorgio is tortured to death. When Don Pietro still refuses to crack, he is executed. While adequate, the subtitles don't do much justice to the dialogue and there are scenes where the subtitles are late showing or don't show at all, as if the translator thought the ideas expressed not worth translating.
105 minutes long.
Region Free (can play in any DVD player).
DVD-R IS IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES.
GERMANY YEAR ZERO (1945):
Deutschland, nach Ende des 2. Weltkriegs. Der 12-jährige Edmund muss für den Unterhalt seiner Familie sorgen. Seine Schwester prostituiert sich, bringt gelegentlich Kohlen, Kartoffeln und Zigaretten mit nach Hause. Der ältere Bruder ist aus der Kriegsgefangenschaft zurück, ohne Essensmarken, und kapselt sich lethargisch von der Welt ab. Der schwer kranke, immer klagende Vater bedeutet eine Last für die ganze Familie.Auf seinen Streifzügen durch die Trümmerfelder trifft Edmund auf seinen ehemaligen Lehrer. Der sagt ihm, Alte und Kranke hätten kein Recht mehr auf Leben, wenn sie den Jungen den Platz und die Nahrung wegnehmen. Beeinflusst von dieser Haltung stiehlt Edmund aus einem Krankenhaus Gift, mit dem er seinen Vater umbringt. Durch seine Tat verwirrt und verzweifelt streunt er zwei Tage durch die Straßen. Als er Zuflucht bei seinem Lehrer sucht, stößt dieser ihn entsetzt von sich. Von Angst und Reue gequält stürzt sich der Junge aus einer Ruine in den Tod.
The story follows a twelve year old boy, Edmund Koeler. Edmund lives with his ailing father and his brother and sister in a bombed out apartment building with five other families. His sister, Eva, is unjustly accused of prostituting herself to Allied officers in Berlin. His brother, Karl-Heinz, has not stepped forward to register with the police, because he is afraid of being punished for being a Nazi. Edmund is mainly left on his own to survive. Edmund deals in the black market and is cheated by older children, who are much more savvy to street life than Edmund, who (at least for a time) manages to salvage some of his childhood innocence. He is eventually corrupted by various forces resulting from the fallout of Nazi rule. Some of the children he hangs out with introduce him to stealing and to casual sex. Mr. Enning (a former school teacher) also corrupts Edmund and profits off selling Nazi artifacts on the blackmarket. He praises Edmund for joining the Hitler Youth when his father tried to get him exempt. In addition, he is harboring a Nazi general. Mr. Enning is also painted as being a homosexual and a pedophile. After visiting Mr. Enning while looking for help, Edmund is told by his former teacher that his father should die because the weak die and the strong survive. Edmund interprets these words in an extreme manner and proceeds to poison his father in order to relieve his suffering and lift the burden placed on his family to take care of the sick man. Afterwards, Edmund is unable to bear the guilt of having done such a thing and throws himself out of a burned building across the street from where his family lives, falling to his death.
DVD-R IS IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES. APPROX. 80 MINS.
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TOTAL TIME: 457 MINS. (approx. 7 1/2 hours)
