General della Rovere
Directed byRoberto Rossellini
Written by
Produced byMorisErgas
Starring
CinematographyCarlo Carlini
Edited byCesare Cavagna
Music byRenzo Rossellini
Production
companies
  • Zebra Film
  • Société Nouvelle des Etablissements Gaumont
Release dates
Running time
  • 137 minutes (premiere)
  • 132 minutes (theatrical)
Countries
  • Italy
  • France
Languages
  • Italian
  • German
  • Hebrew

General Della Rovere (Italian: Il generale Della Rovere) is a 1959 Italian–French drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini.[1] The film is based on a story by Indro Montanelli which was in turn based on a true story.[2]

Plot

Genoa, 1944, during the era of the Italian Social Republic. Petty thief Emanuele Bardone is hired by the German occupation forces to impersonate an Italian Resistance leader, General Della Rovere, and infiltrate a group of resistance prisoners in a Milan prison. Gradually, Bardone loses himself in his role and not merely pretends to be a hero of the resistance but actually becomes one, first encouraging his fellow prisoners to show courage and eventually accepting death by firing squad rather than betraying another imprisoned resistance leader.

Cast

Cultural influences

The transformation of Emmanuele Bardone, the film's protagonist, from an Axis collaborator into a hero of the anti-national socialist resistance, has been compared by Spanish political commentators to the life story of Adolfo Suárez, the Spanish prime minister who oversaw the transition to democracy in the late 1970s. In particular, Javier Cercas devotes the last chapter of The Anatomy of a Moment[3] to exploring the parallels between Bardone and Suarez.

Awards

References

  1. ^ Forgacs, David; Lutton, Sarah; Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (2008). Roberto Rossellini: Magician of the Real. British Film Institute. ISBN 9780851707945.
  2. ^ "Indro Montanelli: Il generale Della Rovere. Introduzione di Geno Pampaloni". Biblioteca Teresa Gullace (in Italian). Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. ^ Cercas, Javier (2011). The Anatomy of a Moment: Thirty-five Minutes in History and Imagination. New York: Bloomsbury. pp. 310–314. ISBN 978-1-60819-491-9.
  4. ^ Bondanella, Peter (1993). The Films of Roberto Rossellini. Cambridge University Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780521398664.

External links


Films directed by Roberto Rossellini
Venice Film Festival Golden Lion
Categories