Rome Open City Scene Analysis Essay

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The selected scene is the climax of the film, Rome, Open City. Structurally, the selected scene not only provides a result of the previously unsettled sequences but also transits into the following new chapter. To a certain extent, it is also a presage of each character’s ending. If we analyze it out of the view of emotion, the selected scene successfully combines humor, tension, and sadness. It makes the audience laugh and cry, nervous and relaxed at the same time. Even if compares to the ending, this selected scene is the most compelling and touching part out of the whole story. The particular scene I choose includes into two parts. The first part is about the father and the boy tries to hide the bomb, and the second part is about the Resistance …show more content…

The primary camera is set from the view of the woman’s boyfriend who is on the truck. The audiences see her tries her best to chase the truck, but with the backward movement of the camera, she cannot reach the truck. This camera angle is realistic and seemingly unstaged. It draws the audience into the moment to experience what the boyfriend is experiencing, and hence it is unprepared, shocking and relatable when the audience sees her shot in the middle of the road. Besides, in between of the chasing shots, Rossellini inserts a panning shot shot from the side of the woman. The fast paced pan movement, and the POV dolly backward flawlessly link up. However, This inserted scene has a closer distance to the character and an unrealistic angle, and by cutting the realistic angle into two parts, this shot breaks the reality and provides a poetic and dramatic illustration. The composition is also an important technique Rossellini uses here. The woman is running in the middle of the road with a full view of the road. The road is empty with all of the others are controlled by the German soldiers on the sidewalk. This composition reveals her smallness and powerlessness, but also shows her braveness and despair. Therefore, when she was shot in the middle of the empty road, she looks like a lonely hero and brings out a great sense of