The Apartment

An Italian WWII documentary by a group of neorealists.

The story of 5 girls among 200 who answer a wanted ad for a modest secretarial position, which leads overcrowding in the building and a tragic accident.

Set amongst the Italian peasantry of WW2, Caccia Tragica (Tragic Chase) is set in motion when a truck loaded with money targetted for farming projects is stolen by bandits. The local villagers set aside their petty political and personal differences, banding together to capture the outlaws and recover the loot. The story takes a romantic detour by concentrating on the romance between two young people caught in the middle between the pursuers and the pursued. At the time of its release, Caccia Tragica was perceived as a Communist tract (it was produced by the left-leaning National Association of Italian Partisans). This didn't prevent the film from winning an award at the 1947 Venice Film Festival, quite a coup for first-time director Giueseppe De Santis.

On the Don, when there was a turning point in World War II, the Italians were at the center of events, they had to defend themselves and retreat. Together with the great German army, they advanced at the beginning of the war east, to Moscow. The Germans did their best to save the situation, throwing more and more reserves, not sparing the Italian soldiers. They treated them as unnecessary animals, leaving them off the road, leaving them without food and warmth. Among the retreating was the foreman Gabrielli — the main character, he will no longer be destined to see his homeland, he will freeze in the field.

Anna Zaccheo is a beautiful young woman from a working class Neapolitan family. Her main concern is to find herself a suitable husband. She meets a young sailor Andrea one day and gets engaged to him. But while she is waiting for Andrea to return from the navy she gets raped by her boss. Her life suddenly takes a downward spiral.

Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder.

A 1954 Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe De Santis, winner of the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

italian movie

Italian director Giueseppe DeSantis was the creative force behind this Yugoslavian "slice of life" drama. The title translates as The Year-Long Road; accordingly, the plot concerns a joint, voluntary effort between Italy and Yugoslavia to construct a highway along the countries' Naturally, this animosity wreaks havoc on the various Romeo-Juliet romances in the region. All is resolved when oil is discovered on one of the islands. An American oil company is finally able to establish détente between the warring factions, smoothing the path for the long-delayed marriages of three young couples.