Dalbert Pringle
For starters - At an unbearable 134 minutes, this 1960, WW2 Drama, directed by Italian film-maker, Roberto Rossellini, was truly something of an endurance test for this frustrated and bored viewer.Escape By Night's action (or lack of it) was set at such a deliberately s-l-o-w snail's pace, and every situation was dragged out beyond reason, that, sure enough, I ended up nodding off to sleep more than once.On top of that, this wartime picture did not contain one, single battle scene in it. You can be sure, had a few worthwhile explosions taken place, here & there, that definitely would have helped to alleviate some of this story's stifling monotony.In this tale of cat-n-mouse, all that Rossellini seemed concerned about was dealing with the trifling personal dramas that dogged its characters.But, unfortunately, this directorial short-sightedness on Rosellini's part didn't go over very well with this viewer, since none of the characters in the story were really all that interesting or worthy of much attention to begin with.Believe it or not - The absolute highlight of this mundane picture was when a turkey (that's right - a turkey!!) escaped from Esperia's home and this excitement sent all of the delighted, neighbourhood children scampering down the dirty street after it.
Movie Review
SPOILER ALERT (Shortened Review: Nowhere near the drama I was expecting):I watched the 133 minute version on Netflix based on the positive reviews here. But after watching the film, and I don't care about the masterful, under-appreciated directing etc, I just want a good story and something to care about. It doesn't happen. The title led me to believe there was an escape from occupied Italy to somewhere in liberated Italy. This is World War 2 after all and the Germans had occupied Italy for some time after the Sicily invasion and the eventual Italian surrender to the Allies. Even the history is wrong. I don't believe the Germans held Soviet prisoners with the rest of the Allied POWs. Soviet POWs were used as slaves and worked to death. Almost none of the Soviet POWs returned alive after the war. But that is trivial to the plot of the movie. What is awkward is that none of the 3 former Allied POWs escapes - or at least the one who did escape just vanished and the audience is told he escaped. The POW escapees go out on some nights from their attic hide out and into the street on another occasion but that's it. Not really much of an escape for hardened veterans, and officers at that. There are a very few moments of drama when the film picks up. And miraculously, all the non-Italians learn fluent Italian by reading a book and hiding in a dreary attic of our beautiful Italian hero-ette. Even the Russian speaks decent Italian. I knew there was something hokey about the cast when the American POW kissed his Italian male acquaintance on the cheek. No American male would ever do that in an infinite number of centuries, let alone a soldier. The film just didn't flow enough for me and the story dragged with very few moments of drama. It's an above-average film but that's it.
parsifalssister
Although it has its faults, as described in the review above, it is also a complex, intelligent document of the war. With Rome as a symbolic backdrop, three POWs arrive into the safe, but reluctant arms of a smuggler, and hide during an unspecified time just before the Allies reach the City.All of the characters speak in their own tongue, which is the complicated part, but it is not without its sense of authenticity in the circumstances. But even with these language and cultural barriers, the main characters create several dynamic exchanges.The pace is slow; the color bleak; the dialog often abbreviated; the relationships in doubt; yet, ultimately, we come to understand the forest of emotion we all experience during crisis, and war is among the most severe of crises.The Italian female lead is engaging and the British Major congenial. The Italians are splendid as both collaborator and rescuer. The Germans play a less significant role, but they remain the fodder for how choices are made of who will live or die, even as the war draws near to the end.The last 20 minutes are spellbinding as those choices are crystallized and strengthened by honesty, integrity and treachery.
dbdumonteil
An user complained that Rossellini's movies are overlooked today;he is completely right.Although the Italian New Wave was never so hard and so nasty as their French counterpart on former colleagues,it nevertheless cast a shadow over them.On the European board ,there are plenty of messages about Fellini,Antonioni,Pasolini (and Godard,Truffaut ,Rohmer and co)whereas Rossellini (and De Sica,the great Luigi Comencini)are almost always absent.He also complained about the cuts in Rossellini's works;however,what was intolerable in "Vanina Vanini" (the first part of which is thoroughly incomprehensible) is not so important in "Era Notte a Roma" . My copy has a running time of about 130 min and that's enough,for I think that it's overlong and even full of filler."Era Notte" tells the story of three escaped prisoners during WW2: a Russian,an English and an American.It's also the story of an Italian girl who helps the peasants to get rid of their burdensome guests in exchange for food.She's not a resistance fighter (as his fiancé is) but she will prove herself very human in spite of her weakness.Rossellini displays respect for the audience: every character speaks his own language ,which gives the movie much more substance than ,for instance ," Uomo della croce " in which everyone spoke Italian.My favorite scene is the Christmas celebration with a very moving "Auld Lang Syne" sung by people from four different countries.It cannot be considered one of Rossellini 's masterworks but its several moments of brilliance make it a must for Rossellini's fans.
AD
