Born in Rome in 1906, Roberto Rossellini became involved with the cinema towards the mid 1930s, working both as editor and director on several short films for the Istituto Luce, from "Daphnè (Daphne)" (1936) to "Undersea fantasy (Fantasia sottomarina)" (1939) and "The Brook of Ripa Sottile (Il ruscello di Ripasottile)" (1941). In 1938 he contributed to the script of "Luciano Serra pilota" directed by Goffredo Alessandrini. In 1941 he made his directing debut with La nave bianca, the initial segment of a "trilogy of war", later completed with "A pilot returns(Un pilota ritorna)" (1942) and " Man with a cross (L'uomo dalla croce)" (1943). 1945 was the year of
"Open city (Roma città aperta)", a masterpiece and the founding work of Italian neo-realism, followed by another two outstanding films,
"Paisan (Paisà)" (1946) and
"Germany year zero (Germania anno zero)", (1947). With "Stromboli, terra di Dio" (1949) he began his artistic collaboration with Ingrid Bergman in a film that investigated the solitude of the individual and used an innovative and seminal cinematographic language. Following the splendid interlude of Francis, " The flowers of St Francis (Francesco, giullare di Dio)" (1950), the films "The greatest love (Europa '51)" (1951) and "Journey to Italy (Viaggio in Italia)" (1954) marked the subsequent steps in this ambitious and fascinating journey. After a period of artistic and personal difficulties during which he undertook a long journey in India to produce material for the eponymous documentary film in 1958, he directed a number of mediocre if stylistically impeccable works including "Il generale Della Rovere" (1959), "Escape by night (Era notte a Roma)" (1960) and "Garibaldi (Viva l'Italia)" (1961). He then devoted himself entirely to directing works of a divulgative and educational nature for the television. However, from "The iron age (Età del ferro)" (1964) to "Acts of the Apostles (Atti degli Apostoli)" (1968) and" Socrate" (1970), the films in this period were all of little artistic interest, with the exception of "The Rise of Louis XIV (La prise de pouvoir de Louis XIV) (1967), produced for French television and on a par with his best works. Returning to the cinema, he directed "Year one (Anno uno)" (1974) and "The Messiah (Il Messia)" (1976), two films that deal with issues already addressed in the past with much greater force and conviction. He died shortly afterwards, on 3 June 1977, in Rome.
