French
DeutschGeneral Della Rovere
| General della Rovere | |
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| Directed by | Roberto Rossellini |
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| Produced by | Moris Ergas |
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| Cinematography | Carlo Carlini |
| Edited by | Cesare Cavagna |
| Music by | Renzo Rossellini |
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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
[edit]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
[edit]- Vittorio De Sica: Vittorio Emanuele Bardone/Grimaldi
- Hannes Messemer: SS Colonel Müller
- Vittorio Caprioli: Aristide Banchelli
- Sandra Milo: Olga
- Giovanna Ralli: Valeria
- Maria Greco: Madama Vera
- Herbert Fischer: German sergeant
- Anne Vernon: Clara Fassio
- Franco Interlenghi: Antonio Pasquali
- Ivo Garrani: Partisan Chief
- Linda Veras: German Attendant
Cultural influences
[edit]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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Forgacs, David; Lutton, Sarah; Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (2008). Roberto Rossellini: Magician of the Real. British Film Institute. ISBN 9780851707945.
- ^ "Indro Montanelli: Il generale Della Rovere. Introduzione di Geno Pampaloni". Biblioteca Teresa Gullace (in Italian). Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Bondanella, Peter (1993). The Films of Roberto Rossellini. Cambridge University Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780521398664.
External links
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