For starters - At an unbearable 134 minutes, this 1960, WW2 Drama, directed by Italian film-maker, Roberto Rossellini, was truly something of an endurance test for this frustrated and bored viewer.
Escape By Night's action (or lack of it) was set at such a deliberately s-l-o-w snail's pace, and every situation was dragged out beyond reason, that, sure enough, I ended up nodding off to sleep more than once.
On top of that, this wartime picture did not contain one, single battle scene in it. You can be sure, had a few worthwhile explosions taken place, here & there, that definitely would have helped to alleviate some of this story's stifling monotony.
In this tale of cat-n-mouse, all that Rossellini seemed concerned about was dealing with the trifling personal dramas that dogged its characters.
But, unfortunately, this directorial short-sightedness on Rosellini's part didn't go over very well with this viewer, since none of the characters in the story were really all that interesting or worthy of much attention to begin with.
Believe it or not - The absolute highlight of this mundane picture was when a turkey (that's right - a turkey!!) escaped from Esperia's home and this excitement sent all of the delighted, neighbourhood children scampering down the dirty street after it.
Escape By Night's action (or lack of it) was set at such a deliberately s-l-o-w snail's pace, and every situation was dragged out beyond reason, that, sure enough, I ended up nodding off to sleep more than once.
On top of that, this wartime picture did not contain one, single battle scene in it. You can be sure, had a few worthwhile explosions taken place, here & there, that definitely would have helped to alleviate some of this story's stifling monotony.
In this tale of cat-n-mouse, all that Rossellini seemed concerned about was dealing with the trifling personal dramas that dogged its characters.
But, unfortunately, this directorial short-sightedness on Rosellini's part didn't go over very well with this viewer, since none of the characters in the story were really all that interesting or worthy of much attention to begin with.
Believe it or not - The absolute highlight of this mundane picture was when a turkey (that's right - a turkey!!) escaped from Esperia's home and this excitement sent all of the delighted, neighbourhood children scampering down the dirty street after it.