GERMANY, YEAR ZERO (GERMANIA, ANNO ZERO) (1947) B/W 78m dir: Roberto Rossellini

w/Franz Gruger, Edmund Meschke, Ernst Pittschau, Ingetraude Hinze, Erich Guhne, Franz-Otto Kruger

Tragic tale of a young boy, trying to feed his family in post-WWII Berlin, who poisons his ailing father to ease the burden. An unforgettable film, shot by neorealist director Rossellini on location. The scenes of Berlin in ruins after the war are incredible.

From Georges Sadoul's Dictionary of Films: "The actors were all non-professionals. Made in the neorealist style of films like Rome, Open City ... and Paisà ... , this lyrical view of Germany in the immediate postwar period has some magnificent scenes, even though, as a whole, it does not match the earlier Rossellini films. Among the memorable scenes are the voice of Hitler on a phonograph among the ruins of the Chancellery and the death of the hero in a gutted building, accompanied by the tragic sound of a passing tram. The film was relatively unsuccessful and this prompted Rossellini to move in other directions.

"'Although the story of Edmond and his family is invented by me, it is nevertheless the common story of German families. It is a mixture of reality and fiction, treated with the license that is the prerogative of any artist.' (Rossellini). The film was made with French financing and the assistance of the East German film company, DEFA."