Open City was one of the first films out of post-war Europe; in fact, it was shot right after the liberation of Rome, with whatever film stock available. Because of this, even the most pristine archival print of the movie will inevitably display visual impurities-film grain and the like, but lots and lots of them. One question I have is why the DVD presentation isn't quite full-screen, but with slight borders all around, when the original aspect ratio was clearly the standard 4:3 of a regular television set.

The story concerns members of the local resistance and the bystanders around them. The friendly neighborhood cop is sympathetic, but will do nothing. The priest's helper minds his own business. Others have their own lives to lead, or petty fortunes to make. In this environment, Mandfredi, "the Engineer," finds himself on the lam and takes shelter with another partisan, Francesco. But the German authorities are close behind, and their Italian lackeys and informers magnify German policing prowess many fold.... This

Even though the versions of Metropolis currently available are tragically cut down from the original release, there are several stand-out moments left intact. One of these involves Freder, when he starts hallucinating after the shocking explosion. Before his very eyes, the machine dissolves into a divine, malignant shrine, eagerly gobbling up human sacrifices and demanding more (which is, in effect, the reality). On another level, the workers are initially seen to march in unison while, after their revolt, they still teem like ants but now in a haphazard, chaotic fashion. Apart from providing memorable visuals, this aspect achieves closure by the end, when the masses are again moving in step, but this time with greater awareness. The result of this is that while Metropolis provides plenty to think about, you don't have to be a film student to enjoy the experience.

The BATTLE OF ALGIERS was supposed to banned (somewhere) for many years. This early Algerian production is a gritty drama about the liberation of Algiers from the French. It's a fairly straightforward political thriller, and it's hard to tell why it was banned (perhaps for political reasons?). The only "objectionable" scenes are one or two depicting the torture of Algerian revolutionaries.

Enemies of her clan pursue a princess under the protection of a brave and resourceful general, bent on capturing her treasure drove of gold. The general must find a way to carry her to safety in friendly territory. Along their escape, they come upon two peasants whom they press into service with promises of reward if they arrive securely at their destination. Just as they near safety, they are captured. Their captor, it turns out, had been humiliated in battle by the princess' guardian. Recognizing the justice of his captives' cause, he defects to her side and aids her escape. All make it to the promised land, the peasants get their reward and presumably the princess lives happily ever after.

Freder is greatly disappointed by this attitude, leaving him with no option but to join with his downtrodden brothers on their backbreaking shifts. Venturing into the steam and smoke, he takes over on some demonic electricity routing device, forced to work for the first time in

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1505
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)