An enormous step forward from his three neorealist classics listed above. Unfortunately, I think it might still be suffering from its original backlash. It was pounded by the critics at the time, but that was all for reasons outside the film itself (well, not exactly; the film seems to mimic real life at the time, even if it wasn't meant to). Of course, I'm referring to the affair that Ingrid Bergman, the film's star, and Roberto Rossellini, its director, had during the shooting, which resulted in the birth of an illegitimate child. Not only were they not married to each other, but they were both married to others at the time. That wouldn't, of course, cause most people living in the United States to even blink today, but it was a huge scandal at the time, resulting in a box office dud for RKO Pictures, who had produced it. Fortunately, we can look at Stromboli objectively today and recognize it for the great masterpiece that it happens to be.
Bergman, in possibly her best role, plays a young Lithuanian woman who has lived a sort of decadent life. She is now in an internment camp in Italy, praying to flee to Argentina. Her only other option is to marry the Italian soldier, several years younger than herself, who is flirting with her all the time. The first option falls through, so she is forced to go with her backup plan. All's well, until she finds out where the guy lives and has every intention of going back to: Stromboli, a volcanic island where only the toughest farmers and fishermen live. Bergman is immediately distraught. She has grown up wealthy, had a lot of luxuries. Now she is living in a hut on a dusty, barren rock with a husband who can only barely understand English, which is, incidentally, only a second language for Bergman, as well. There is little communication between them, and, indeed, in this land, that is not exactly important. Still, the husband really cares for her. In all actuality, although we can jerk our knees at his conservative ways, Bergman is the one who refuses to compromise. From the first day, she demands to be taken away from Stromboli, to America or Australia, maybe. But there is no money to do so. There are a lot of customs on the island which she doesn't understand. She doesn't even attempt to understand them. Even when a friend tells her she shouldn't enter a certain person's home, she goes in anyway, completely embarrassing her husband. When she complains to the priest that she is utterly unhappy, he replies that he understands, but her husband is just as unhappy, maybe moreso. After all, the first thing she did when he went fishing was store away all the pictures of his deceased family and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Stromboli is an amazingly fair film in this way. In fact, my only complaint would center on the print I saw (on TCM, of course) rather than the actual film: it is unsubtitled, which means that we are meant to see everything from Bergman's point of view, at least in this version. I think that the Italian should be translated in subtitles, because there are a lot of long segments where the Italians are talking to each other that go untranslated. Rossellini wouldn't have had this dialogue if he didn't want us to know what they were saying. Of course, it's not usually very difficult to figure out what they are talking about.
Among other things, Stromboli contains two of the most amazing set pieces in the history of film. First, Bergman has someone row her out to see her husband while he and other Strombolians are tuna fishing. In an extremely lengthy sequence, we witness this event. This is far more reality than Visconti ever gave us in La Terra Trema a few years prior. Second, the volcano at the peak of the island erupts and the residents have to sail out to sea in their boats for a very long time. The film also has a masterful finale, although I think I personally would have directed Ingrid differently in the final scene. It still works wonders. 10/10.
Bergman, in possibly her best role, plays a young Lithuanian woman who has lived a sort of decadent life. She is now in an internment camp in Italy, praying to flee to Argentina. Her only other option is to marry the Italian soldier, several years younger than herself, who is flirting with her all the time. The first option falls through, so she is forced to go with her backup plan. All's well, until she finds out where the guy lives and has every intention of going back to: Stromboli, a volcanic island where only the toughest farmers and fishermen live. Bergman is immediately distraught. She has grown up wealthy, had a lot of luxuries. Now she is living in a hut on a dusty, barren rock with a husband who can only barely understand English, which is, incidentally, only a second language for Bergman, as well. There is little communication between them, and, indeed, in this land, that is not exactly important. Still, the husband really cares for her. In all actuality, although we can jerk our knees at his conservative ways, Bergman is the one who refuses to compromise. From the first day, she demands to be taken away from Stromboli, to America or Australia, maybe. But there is no money to do so. There are a lot of customs on the island which she doesn't understand. She doesn't even attempt to understand them. Even when a friend tells her she shouldn't enter a certain person's home, she goes in anyway, completely embarrassing her husband. When she complains to the priest that she is utterly unhappy, he replies that he understands, but her husband is just as unhappy, maybe moreso. After all, the first thing she did when he went fishing was store away all the pictures of his deceased family and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Stromboli is an amazingly fair film in this way. In fact, my only complaint would center on the print I saw (on TCM, of course) rather than the actual film: it is unsubtitled, which means that we are meant to see everything from Bergman's point of view, at least in this version. I think that the Italian should be translated in subtitles, because there are a lot of long segments where the Italians are talking to each other that go untranslated. Rossellini wouldn't have had this dialogue if he didn't want us to know what they were saying. Of course, it's not usually very difficult to figure out what they are talking about.
Among other things, Stromboli contains two of the most amazing set pieces in the history of film. First, Bergman has someone row her out to see her husband while he and other Strombolians are tuna fishing. In an extremely lengthy sequence, we witness this event. This is far more reality than Visconti ever gave us in La Terra Trema a few years prior. Second, the volcano at the peak of the island erupts and the residents have to sail out to sea in their boats for a very long time. The film also has a masterful finale, although I think I personally would have directed Ingrid differently in the final scene. It still works wonders. 10/10.