'Paisan' was Roberto Rossellini's second film in his famous 'War Trilogy'. It comprises of 6 episodes showcasing random characters involved or living in wartime Italy, strung together to make up the whole film. These episodic vignettes on one hand are random and not closely related to each other, but one can find general themes that loosely bind them together.A similarity that can be drawn with Rossellini's first film in the War Trilogy, i.e. 'Rome, Open City' and 'Paisan' is that both the films try to be as inclusive as possible. Both films feature different characters from various sections of Italian society. 'Paisan' features a number of interesting characters, but unlike 'Rome, Open City' which mixes these characters together and lets them interact in the same narrative, 'Paisan' uses multiple short disconnected scenarios featuring the characters without mixing them together. I also think 'Paisan' is perfect as the next chapter to 'Rome, Open City' due to the progression that we see in the way Rossellini uses foreigners and specifically Americans. In 'Rome, Open City', the Italian characters from time to time make remarks about their hopes of getting American assistance. There is always this hope beneath the struggle and misery that the Americans will arrive to rid them of their troubles. In 'Paisan', Americans are an integral part of the film and their interaction with the Italian natives is one of the most fascinating aspects of the film. The title of the film means 'friend' and friendship is exactly what the film advocates even if it involves breaking language and geographical barriers.Rossellini uses newsreel footage and narration at the beginning of every episode to crank up the realism of the film. The first three of the episodes involve American and Italian characters having trouble communicating with each other due to the language barrier. The first episode shows a group of American soldiers walking into a Church and taking a young girl along with them to show them the way. Rossellini shows us his directorial skill in one beautiful scene where he uses one single extended take to stage a conversation between one of the American soldiers, Joe and the young Italian girl Carmela. Joe tries to break the ice with her by talking about him, his family, his home, his loneliness and the long take that Rossellini uses adds to the authenticity of the scene. But this sweet scene and the long take gets broken up by the reality of the war and what follows is heartbreaking.The second episode is similar to the first in showing an American and an Italian kid having troubles in understanding each other's language. There is a beautiful and intimate scene where the American Joe in his drunken state talks to the young Italian kid while both are sitting on a pile of rubble. Joe in the end to some extent becomes the world's eyes looking into the sorry plight of the Italian masses and the finale to this episode is an eye opener for one and all.The third episode is probably my favourite. Here the American soldier,Fred and the Italian prostitute,Francesca understand each other's language. This episode has a style of storytelling similar to an O. Henry short story. Both the characters are likable. There is a sad misunderstanding at play and Fred's inability to grasp the reality of the situation and the troubles of women like Francesca in wartime Italy is the basis of this episode. The ending to this episode is probably the most poignant and heartbreaking moment in the entire film. The fourth episode shows us exactly why Gillo Pontecorvo was heavily influenced by 'Paisan'. This is a brilliantly directed segment with brilliant gritty shots of guerrilla warfare on the streets of Rome. This episode is probably the most energetic of all. The language barrier is virtually nonexistent. The fifth episode is my least favourite. We go into a church and the Italian Catholic monks welcome 3 American soldiers. Certain aspects of the faiths followed by the soldiers become revealed and the priests struggle among themselves to decide what to do. The episode ends on an overly melodramatic and sentimental tone and I would've liked a more complex treatment of this tussle between prejudice and righteousness.The sixth episode has a standard war film like look and vibe to it. The American soldiers and the Italian partisan fighters collaborate and they understand each other's language. Nothing special jumps out of this particular segment except the fact that this is a great tribute to all the partisan Italian fighters.When it comes to Rossellini's direction and style of storytelling, there are moments of brilliance and mastery littered throughout the film. Some episodes are better than others which is bound to happen when a film is structured in an episodic manner. But I think, there are some weaknesses in the screenplay. There are moments where the film delves a little too deep into melodrama and sentimentality which was a bit jarring. Another big weakness was the acting. Some of the performances in the film especially from the people playing the Americans were cringeworthy. Apparently many of them were real soldiers who were still residing in Italy after the war, but I can't put that into consideration while judging the film especially when I have seen directors like De Sica, Satyajit Ray,etc. get great performances out of amateurs. The lines of dialogue written for the English speaking characters were also very subpar and not at all realistic. I liked 'Paisan' much more than 'Rome, Open City'. I believe this film has more subtlety, more complexity and shows more maturity in Rossellini's direction. However it isn't a perfect film. Having mentioned the problems that I had with the film earlier, I'll still recommend it to everyone. This is a film which should be seen because of the way it influenced other filmmakers and because of its noble themes.

"Paisa" is Rossellini's masterpiece, an essential Neo-Realism movie and a major Italian classic. For the anecdote, "paisa" is an informal word meaning "countryman".Although this movie is about Italy's campaign at the end of WWII, it only briefly deals with its important moments: the Allied landing in Sicily, the battle of Monte Cassino, the Gothic line battle. These are just summarised with archive footage between the main scenes. Interestingly, it does not even mention other critical moments: the downfall of Mussolini, his escape, his brief so-called "republic", his final downfall and execution, the invasion of Italy by the German army, the deportation of Jews, etc. This because the movie shows war at human level: how war and its aftermath impacts people's lives and values; also, it revolves around the relationship between Italians and Americans. It is not a "war movie" in the generally accepted sense, but rather "humane stories during war".*** WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS ***To illustrate different aspects, it shows six scenes as the Allies progress north through Italy's landmarks. Three scenes occur during the battles (1, 4, 6) and three afterwards (2, 3, 5). Remarkably, the movie avoids the pitfall of many "vignette movies", namely the sensation of watching different shorts instead of a full-length picture: "Paisa" maintains a thematic and aesthetic unity throughout. At the same time, each scene has its own specific interest, which enhances the unique character of the movie.Aesthetically, it combines documentary and fictional styles, in a ground-breaking manner for the period. Every scene begins with archive footage: when fiction starts, it seems a continuation of archives. Also, as in a documentary, shooting is sober, stories are simple, themes are realistic. However, Rossellini introduces at carefully chosen moments fictional elements to enhance the dramatic impact of each scene: music, lighting, offbeat humour, surprising actions. The latter notably include: the Italian girl turns against the Germans (1); the GI first does not recognise the boy who stole his shoes (2); the GI does not recognise the woman he fell in love with six months before (3); a woman and a wounded man manage to pass the fighting line (4); the entire scene in the monastery feels out of this world (5); a small group of partisans resist the German army (6).Humour is another key element. It is tricky to introduce humour in a war movie, but Rossellini succeeds in order to avoid an altogether too tragic tone. The entire scene in the monastery (5) is humorous, which is acceptable because at that stage the war in the region is over and the monks do not have to face too tragic consequences, as opposed to the scenes in Naples (2) and Rome (3). The tone is satirical (the monks are nervous because a Jew and a Protestant are within their walls), but at the same time we understand how they feel. Another hilarious part, albeit much shorter, is the incredible dialogue between British officers (4): they are looking at the fighting from far away and talk in a phlegmatic manner as if the war did not exist. This humour partly balances the overall tragic tone of the movie: killings, poverty, cruelty. Tones are hence balanced between dark (1, 6), light (5), or both (2, 3, 4). Irony, this dark form of humour, is constant: the GIs think the girl shot their companion, while she tried to avenge him (1); the GI cannot get his shoes back (2); the GI thinks the woman he fell in love with is just another prostitute (3); the nurse crosses the line to find a man who is actually dead (4); the monks are tolerant up to a point (5). Irony in the last scene is subtler. Many scenes contain a touching speech by an American: the GI tries to talk to the Italian girl (1); the GI dreams of glory (2); the GI regrets the good spirits during liberation (3); the chaplain confesses he found peace of mind (5). However, the only speech in the last scene is the dreadful propaganda from the German officer about destruction and new order. This is highly ironic: it opposes the previous humane speeches; also, it was obvious in winter 1944 that Germany had lost the war and Nazism was utter barbarity.On top of death and destruction, war brings moral decay. People know what they are doing is wrong, but they have no choice: the GIs force the girl to help them (1); "Don't sleep else I will steal your shoes", the orphan warns the GI (2); the prostitute regrets the time when she was respectable (3); by crossing the fighting line, the man looking for his family gets a partisan shot (4); by asking for food in a house, the partisans expose its inhabitants to severe revenge from the Germans (6). Because deep down, people are decent and try to help each other: the girl turns against the Germans because she was touched by the GI trying to talk to her (1); the GI pities the orphan's misery (2); the usherette allows the prostitute inside without paying to escape the police (3); the partisans let the two civilians pass despite the risks for their cause (4); the peasants feed the partisans despite the risks (6). Hence the movie is mostly tragic with an optimistic message: after the war, hopefully a better world will emerge based on people's humanity that was temporarily crushed. Italians collaborators and German Nazis are seldom shown: they belong to the past. Symbolically, communication progressively improves between Italians and Allies during the movie: from impossible conversation (1, 2) to limited dialogue (3), to eventually efficient coordination (4, 5, 6). The last shot simply but beautifully illustrates hope: after a dramatic close-up on partisans thrown into the water, the camera moves up towards the horizon and the voice that previously described fierce battles announces the war will soon be over.

It's six vignettes of the Allied invasion of Italy. There is humor, romance, poignancy, drama and most of all there is tragedy. Together the six stories stitch together a mosaic that is hopefully as enduring as one of the great artwork of history.An American recon squad enters a Sicilian village. One of them comes from a Sicilian background. Local girl Carmela guides them past German mines taking shelter in an old ruin. Joe stays with Carmela as the rest of the squad explores and they are surprised by a small squad of Germans. Carmela Sazio is very stiff as an actress. She's an amateur and there's value in that. However her character has a lot of emoting to do and she has trouble doing it.A group of street performing kids in Naples find drunken negro soldier Joe. Pasquale takes him around and they have an adventure. The poor kid steals from him. He turns out to be an MP and later he finds Pasquale. He is angry and drags Pasquale back home. The poverty of his home convinces Joe to leave him the boots. The kids are terrific and in this case, it's unlikely to get better actor than this amateur kid.In a liberated Rome, American GI Fred spends the night with prostitute Francesca. He has been searching for a woman he met 6 months ago and she realizes that she's actually that woman. This is a great story but I'm not sure it's set up right. It would be great to see them 6 months earlier.Half of Florence is liberated. All but one bridge has been blown and the partisans are struggling against the Germans. American nurse Harriet is desperate to get across to find her love. She is joined by Massimo looking for his family. The location shoot of them sneaking around an abandoned Florence is amazing.A monastery escapes damage from the war and is visited by three American chaplains. Catholic Captain Bill Martin translates but the monks are shocked to find the other two are a Protestant and a Jew. The monks intent on converting the two disbelievers.It's the closing stage of the war in Europe, American OSS and Italian partisans are struggling behind German lines in the Po delta. Supplies are dwindling and the fight is deadly. They rescue two downed British airmen. They are ambushed and captured. This is the most brutal of the stories and it ends the movie with its most brutal scenes.

Roberto Rossellini's Paisan was a war drama film that basically depressed me. Because it was a long film with five episodes of depression, since people all have a misfortune happen to them in the end. Even more because its lack of a happy ending is what depressed me, but its not part of why what I think of the movie as a whole. Rossellini was set as the founder of Neo Realism, but was mostly underrated and never given much credit to his ability. The movie was a well-made film, with the many stories in it let you see how other people's lives are going on instead of focusing on just one person and his story. How many times have you watched a movie and wondered what happens to another character other than the main character, this movie gives you five different stories that all occurred at the same time and place. There is a story of a drunken black man who ends up spending time with some kids at the black market and he finds out how hard their life is, and has a different outcomes. Another was when a Italian hooker tries to get with a GI who was drunk, but he starts telling her of the girl he once met that was so pure and innocent, and the hooker who just happens to be that same girl and she leaves and gives him a note to go to an address the next morning. Next morning comes and she waits for him, but he never shows up because he thought the note was phony. This movie just has a lot of unfortunate endings occur to show that not everyone gets a happy ending in this life, and those who do are the ones who worked hard for it.