Josh Gillam’s review published on Letterboxd:
Marcello Mastroianni and Richard Burton star in this war drama about a real life massacre that occurred in reprisal for the deaths of an SS brigade in Nazi-occupied Rome.
It was very disturbing, especially at the end, and showed the horrors committed by the Germans while occupying Italy. Mastroianni’s character, a priest trying to stop the violence, is based on several people, including Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who was played by Gregory Peck in The Scarlet and the Black (which this reminded me of, as it tells a similar story), and the film shows how the Pope turned a blind eye to the violence. The producer and director were taken to court by the Pope’s sister for libel and found guilty (though later pardoned), and the film is quite damning of all sides, blaming both the Germans and the local leaders.
I found the film quite harrowing and hard to watch, but it certainly gets its message across, even if Burton’s character of SS chief Herbert Kappler is shown to be disillusioned and conflicted, whereas he was apparently much more zealous and committed to the cause in real life, which feels a bit like the filmmakers using the “Good German” stereotype to an extent. It would have been much more powerful to not try and humanise him (although he is shown to commit horrific crimes). It was a very dark film that has an important message and is really well done but it is a difficult watch.
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