Roberto Rossellini's Germany Year Zero

In the conclusion of the three-part war trilogy from Roberto Rossellini is a film titled
Germany Year Zero. Released in 1948 and an Italian produced film, Germany Year Zero is shaped by Italian neorealism, an aspect intrinsic in the Italian films of the time. Italian neorealism attempts to paint a true reality of the situation at hand just as it objectively depicts a ruined post-war Berlin. Rossellini also presents melodramatic forms of narrative through the characters in the story in another form of objectivity and distance from emotion. Employing forms of Italian neorealism, Rossellini presents an evocative view of feeling for the audience to experience the situation alongside the characters. With this in mind, several themes appear to the

Many of the characters experience guilt in one way or another throughout the film and the guilt presented stems from multiple characters and situations to others along the way. For instance, consider Edmunds guilt for poisoning his father. After the event and turning to his old school teacher, Henning, who castigates the child in fear of being in fault, Edmund wanders the ruined streets of Berlin and Rossellini paints a vivid picture of his guilt; Edmunds face is dirty and shadowed by his untamed hair and the score supplements this with a mellow and solemn base and occasional violin strings that exemplify the uncertainty of the situation. With the power of this scene, one can assume and feel Edmunds guilt for poisoning his father and as he makes his way up a destroyed building, the viewer can deduce that his suicide is imminent. This explains an evident human toll of guilt and a question of where the fault lies in guilt--was it Henning who suggested the death of Edmunds father or was it Edmund’s father himself who hinted at the idea of