I saw Roberto Rossellini's "Europa '51" for the first time very recently and I can assure you it is without a question Rossellini's greatest film with Ingrid Bergman surpassing "Viaggio in Italia" and "Stromboli". It may well be Rossellini's greatest and most complex film, though I still have soft spot for "Paisan", "Germania, anno Zero", and "The Rise of Louis XIV"!
"Europa '51" is a supremely rich and moving work of art, highlighted by an extraordinary performance by Ingrid Bergman (perhaps her best ever)! It beautifully expresses the uncertainty, the despair,the search for hope at that time in history. Much like Rossellini's neo-realist classics, "Europa '51" shows only facts or raw physical reality, yet throughout the film Rossellini makes the viewer aware of something miraculous or spiritual. Rossellini deftly shows us the process of how a human being can transform from being a careless or ordinary to a gifted saint capable of changing the world. At first, Bergman's Irene is portrayed as hard working mother who has very little care for her son Michele and her people. Irene is shown chatting with her dinner guests who are apparently blind to the realities of outside world. But soon when Michele tries to commit suicide and ultimately dies, she is changed forever. Michele's suicide here is quite different from Edmund's in "Germania, anno Zero": Whereas Edmund's heartbreaking suicide is characterized by a sense of finality and lack of consolation, Michele's suicide in "Europa '51" provokes Irene's journey to sainthood. Irene's progression from ignorance to sainthood is truly a revelation. Rossellini's unique style, the use of eloquent close-ups, or the scene where Irene's face fills the frame as she looks at a female patient - serves as "framing" devices where we see Irene attaining something larger than life. Irene personifies a sense of change and endearment for her people; she suddenly starts to care for humanity, her eyes open to the harshness of the outside world. Though there is an apparent detachment in the drama much like most Rossellini's work, there is no question the viewer is invited to identify with Irene and share the development of her consciousness.
To me, the ending is hopeful and miraculous. Irene is behind bars, her friends come and recognize her as a saint. It is a shot full of beauty and eloquence. This is the only Rossellini film I saw that made me cry. I hope many people will see it and be moved by it as much as I did.
"Europa '51" is a supremely rich and moving work of art, highlighted by an extraordinary performance by Ingrid Bergman (perhaps her best ever)! It beautifully expresses the uncertainty, the despair,the search for hope at that time in history. Much like Rossellini's neo-realist classics, "Europa '51" shows only facts or raw physical reality, yet throughout the film Rossellini makes the viewer aware of something miraculous or spiritual. Rossellini deftly shows us the process of how a human being can transform from being a careless or ordinary to a gifted saint capable of changing the world. At first, Bergman's Irene is portrayed as hard working mother who has very little care for her son Michele and her people. Irene is shown chatting with her dinner guests who are apparently blind to the realities of outside world. But soon when Michele tries to commit suicide and ultimately dies, she is changed forever. Michele's suicide here is quite different from Edmund's in "Germania, anno Zero": Whereas Edmund's heartbreaking suicide is characterized by a sense of finality and lack of consolation, Michele's suicide in "Europa '51" provokes Irene's journey to sainthood. Irene's progression from ignorance to sainthood is truly a revelation. Rossellini's unique style, the use of eloquent close-ups, or the scene where Irene's face fills the frame as she looks at a female patient - serves as "framing" devices where we see Irene attaining something larger than life. Irene personifies a sense of change and endearment for her people; she suddenly starts to care for humanity, her eyes open to the harshness of the outside world. Though there is an apparent detachment in the drama much like most Rossellini's work, there is no question the viewer is invited to identify with Irene and share the development of her consciousness.
To me, the ending is hopeful and miraculous. Irene is behind bars, her friends come and recognize her as a saint. It is a shot full of beauty and eloquence. This is the only Rossellini film I saw that made me cry. I hope many people will see it and be moved by it as much as I did.