Rossellini, Roberto

Rossellini, Roberto (1906-1977), Italian film director, born in Rome. Rossellini began work in films in 1934. While making propaganda films for the dictatorial regime of Benito Mussolini, Rossellini secretly filmed Roman life during the last days of World War II. These scenes were incorporated into Roma, Città Aperta (1945; Rome, Open City) and Paisà (1946). The two films are marked by social concern, realistic settings, grainy black-and-white film, and the use of amateurs as performers, and they helped to establish the post-war Italian Neo-Realistic style of film. Other notable films were Stromboli (1949), starring Ingrid Bergman, whom he later married after their controversial relationship, and Francesco, Giullare di Dio (1950; Francis, God's Jester). Towards the end of his career he made a number of critically acclaimed historical films for television, such as L'Età del Ferro (1964; The Age of Iron), La Prise de Pouvoir par Louis XIV (1966; The Rise of Louis XIV), Socrate (1970; Socrates), and Blaise Pascal (1975). His daughter, Isabella Rossellini, his child with Bergman, is an actress, and his brother, Renzo, a composer, has written the music for some of his films.

See also Italian Cinema.