Paisan (1946) Criterion 1080p BluRay HEVC AAC-SARTRE + Extras

Roberto Rossellini's Paisan (originally Paisa) is one of the best-known and most important of the postwar Italian neorealist films; certainly it has one of the finest pedigrees, representing the combined talents of two of Italy's most prestigious filmmakers. The second of Rossellini's "war trilogy" (bracketed by Open City and Germany Year Zero), Paisan is divided into six episodes, each elucidating upon the tenuous relationship between the recently liberated Italians and their American liberators. In the first episode, Joe From Jersey (Robert Van Loon), assigned to guard a taciturn Sicilian woman (Carmela Sazio), tries to communicate with his monolingual prisoner. Next, a black MP (Dotts Johnson) is robbed of his shoes by an impoverished Neopolitan street urchin (Alfonsino Pasca). This is followed by an episode set in Rome, where drunken GI Fred (Gar Moore) is reunited with a streetwalker (Maria Michi) whom he's met before but does not recognize. In Florence, American nurse Harriet (Harriet Medin) and an Italian partisan (Gigi Gori) dodge bullets as they make their way through enemy-held territory in search of Harriet's lover. Next comes a comic interlude involving a theological argument between a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew and a group of Fransiscan monks. The film concludes with a bloody confrontation in the Po Valley between the OSS and a band of intractable Germans who refuse to surrender. Everyone who's ever seen Paisan has his or her favorite episode: by consensus of opinion, the most popular vignettes are the Naples episode (largely adlibbed by actors Dotts Johnson and Alfonsino Pasca) and the thrilling Florentine vignette with Harriet Medin and Gigi Gori. Giulietta Masina, the wife of Federico Fellini, shows up in a bit role; Fellini himself collaborated on the screenplay with Rossellini and Annalena Limentani. Originally released at 115 minutes, Paisan was expertly edited to 90 minutes for American consumption by Stuart Legg and Raymond Spottiswoode.

This is the second film of Rossellini's War Trilogy.

Sample Clip (Download file for actual quality)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1fyBia_71R4Xb73PZemJ6WCDOzszUjqqs



Extras


• Introduction - presented here is an archival introduction by Roberto Rossellini which was filmed for Roberto Rossellini Presents, a 1963 French television series introducing his films. It was directed by Jean-Marie Coldefy. In French, with optional English subtitles. (4 min, 720p).

• Adriano Apra - presented here is an archival video interview with renowned Italian film historian, teacher, and critic Adriano Apra in which he explains how the original idea for Paisan evolved (with some specific comments about the script for the film), and discusses Federico Fellini's involvement with the film, the shooting process, the similarities between the liberation of Italy that was initiated by the Allies and the Risorgimento, the film's groundbreaking structure, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2009. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (17 min, 720p).

• Rossellini at Rice University - presented here are excepts from a video-taped discussion with Roberto Rossellini at Rice University in which he addresses the main qualities of his films (and specifically the critics' use of the term neorealism to describe them), some of the key themes that are channeled through them, and his fondness of non-professional actors. Leading the discussion is James Blue, then dierctor of Rice Media Center. Also present are professors Colin Young and David MacDougall. The discussion was held in 1970. In English, not subtitled. (14 min, 720p).

• Into the Future - presented here is a video essay in which Roberto Rossellini scholar Tag Gallagher offers an in-depth analysis of the films in the War Trilogy and the era they representative of. In English, not subtitled. (31 min, 720p).