better than these years’s so-called love letter to theatres movie; it’s the tramp in me; Cyrano de Bergerac, without the nose; I’d like to continued, but I am stuck; preaching is a bit boring, luckily he ceased it; and the last scene, frankly the first two act is quite outdated…And Keaton…
ok but why is this guy so infatuated with this woman that he would risk everything and betray his country for her? I need to know more of their history so the whole thing can make sense to me.
3.5. Rewatch. In retrospect, the more interesting question seems to be the extent of continuity (especially in terms of the portrayal of "heroic" characters) between this and Rossellini's earlier fascist propaganda films. The whitewashing of Italy's involvement in WW2 (and of Badoglio no less) also stands out, though the choice of a Communist as one of the martyred saints is also intriguing.