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. 

DVD-R is in Italian with hard-encoded English subtitles.  Approx. 105 mins. See film sample for quality!