Directed by Roberto Rossellini • 1952 • Italy
Starring Ingrid Bergman, Alexander Knox
In the English-language version of this film, Ingrid Bergman plays a wealthy, self-absorbed Rome socialite racked by guilt over the shocking death of her young son. As a way of dealing with her grief and finding meaning in her life, she decides to devote her time and money to the city’s poor and sick. Her newfound, single-minded activism leads to conflicts with her husband and questions about her sanity. The intense, often overlooked EUROPE ’51 was, according to Rossellini, a retelling of his own THE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS from a female perspective. This unabashedly political but sensitively conducted investigation of modern sainthood was the director’s favorite of his films.
The following introduction by director Roberto Rossellini was shot for “Roberto Rossellini Presents,” a 1963 French television series that broadcast his films. It was directed by Jean-Marie Coldefy.
In this 2011 interview, film critic Adriano Aprà discusses how, in EUROPE ’51, director Roberto Rossellini was working in a more didactic mode than in his earlier films, one that anticipated his later television work.
In this 2011 interview, film scholar Elena Dagrada, an expert on director Roberto Rossellini’s films with actor Ingrid Bergman, discusses the multiple versions of EUROPE ’51.
