Rome, Open City

          Don Pietro is a Priest who also sides with the rebels. He accepts that his actions assisting those in the resistance could cost him his life. I am not sure what his motivation is, perhaps he does not like the cruel actions of the Germans, both to himself and those around him. I think that Don Pietro stands for teh two sided man. He is a traitor, and hten he is not. As a priest, he answers soley to God, and is governed by only God. Since that is his viewpoint, he does not see his actions as wrong.
      Pina is the wife of Marcello and fiancee of Francesco. She is depicted as a strong woman, who desires the comfort of a man and father. He connection to the Resistance is through Francesco, who is a part of the Resisitance. She does not favor the Germans, and hates the way in which they are running society. She considers them rude and disgracefull people.
     Marinia is a stage dancer and former girlfriend of Manfredi, leader of the resistance. I find it very difficult to understand her character. She acts as though she is in love with Manfredi, yet still betrays him. Now I understand that it was because of a drug addiction, but....gah...I just don't think that her character was portrayed very well. She came off as very blonde and "not quite all there"
    Rhetoric is the art of using language, prose, or verse, with a pursausive effect. I think that everyone in the film expresses themselves, some just more than others. Don Pietro, for example uses his stature and position in order to be dominant and/or respected. (The German soldiers do not treat him as harshly because he is a Priest). Marnia uses her body to get what she wants.....I apologize, but I can't answer this question. I'm not very good at analyzing things, I can easily spot rhetoric in literature, and perhaps if I had the script I could answer it well, but tyring to look back at the movie and locate rhetoric not only in speech but also in body and location is a skill that I am currently lacking.
      This film was a combination of comedy and serious issues, much like Ciao Professore. However, Rome, Open City has fewer comedic elements. The one that stands out to me was when the children were filing in for church, saying "Praise be to God". One boy came in late, and Don Pietro stopped him, reminding him to say the saying, which he does. Shuffling him into church, he the priest replies, "Very good, but your always the one to praise Him last." I thought that this was very funny, and allowed the viewer to see the more friendly side of Don Pietro. It was a small break from all the seriousness.  The same can be said about his scene inside the antique shop. There is a statue of Jesus and a naked woman facing one another, while Don Pietro is waiting to be allowed to speak to the hidden resistance members, he stands quietly in the store, and switches the two statues away from one another, a sign of his priestly origins. Another humorous scene was when teh boys were returning home after causing an explosion outside. One by one they get dragged back into their rooms to receive beatings by their parents. Now, this shouldn't be funny, but I think that the dialogue that went along with it made it so. The boys were expecting their beating, so they said some things that added humor. I really don't think that the humor contributes to the socio-political message of the film. I would classify the movie as a drama, with a few kicks and giggles here and there. Some of those kicks and giggles may not have been intended as humorous, but, because the movie is so old, they simply turned out that way.
       I'm not quite sure what Don Pietro meant when he said "It's not hard to die well, it's hard to live well." I understand the concept of "living well", i.e. being a good person, loved by other people, etc. But to "die well". What constitutes dying well?  Did Manfredi die well, by being tourtured and refusing to reveal resistance secrects? Did Pina die well, innocnetly chacing after her lover? What about Don Pietro? He died a traitor's death by refusing  to pursude Manfredi to talk because he knew he wouldn't be able to. Did these people even live well? Did they make the most out of their lives? What was it they left undone?

    The director Rossellini tries to justify the actions of the "bad guys", by making their actions not seem so bad. (To themselves anyway).  Marina was an addict who had an uncontrollable addiction. She was "unwell" and did what she did because, to her, there didn't seem to be any other option.General Bergmann was just following orders like a good soldier. Whether we like to believe it or not, American generals are they same. They are given an order that they must follow. They torture and kill. We only consider General Bergmann in the wrong now, because America won the war. But what if the Germans had won? History would be completely different.