General Della Rovere (1959)

 Roberto Rossellini's "General Della Rovere"


I watched Rossellini's 1959 film "General Della Rovere" at the recommendation of Slavoj Zizek, who mentioned the film during a panel. He marked it notable due to its thematic notion that identity can be a completely external classification - that someone can become any form of identity simply by inhabiting it. While this notion was prevalent in the film, I had a difficult time mining any meaningful or philosophical significance from this picture.

The film centers on a petty thief named Emanuele Bardone, who is hired by the German occupation forces in 1944 Genoa to impersonate an Italian Resistance leader, General Della Rovere, and infiltrate a group of resistance prisoners in a Milan prison. Gradually, Bardone loses himself in his role and eventually becomes the very hero he is impersonating. After encouraging his fellow prisoners, he turns on the Nazis and accepts his fate.

While I found certain gems of the film to be notable for the before-mentioned thematic notions about identity, there was a certain dramatic tone that lacked for me, personally. I found myself completely bored by this transformation, as there were no real means or methods to demonstrate the change by any means. It felt like we as an audience simply had to accept the change because he suddenly felt a moral obligation. 

Overall, I wasn't that impressed by "General Della Rovere." I am a huge Rossellini admirer, but this was probably one of his lesser works for me. 



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