General Della Rovere

A film set in Genoa during the Second World War. Bardone is a small-time swindler. In the German-occupied city he has found a line of work: he goes to the families of prisoners, says he has contacts among the senior officers and promises for money to get their men out. He gets nobody out. He is caught. The German officer who faces him makes an offer: he will go into the prison under the identity of a general and find out which of the men inside is a certain resistance leader. Bardone accepts. Inside he is treated with great respect. The prisoners have heard a general has arrived; they expect courage from him, bring him their questions and want to speak with him before their executions. From there the film is about a part changing the man playing it. Bardone acts at first; then what he is acting turns into a real responsibility and his decisions put his own life at risk. The question at the centre is whether a man can become the person he imitates. Vittorio De Sica plays Bardone; a director himself, he was acting at the time because of his debts. Roberto Rossellini directed. The film shared the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. It was seen as a return to his postwar realist period and was an unexpected box office success in Italy. Who it is for: anyone who likes wartime drama and narratives built on identity. Who it is not for: anyone expecting action; the film takes place almost entirely in prison corridors and conversations.