I wrote a paper in film school about Rosellini's use of Pina's Death to jumpstart the narrative. Any comments would be appreciated. It is posted here: http://www.randomfreeinfo.com/article/?num=4
shareGreat paper.
Some of the same things struck me: not expecting a major, sympathetic character to get killed especially so early in the film and the way the killing is made even more shocking by the previous humorous exchanges.
Thanks for the interest!
shareApparently the actress was a name actress in Italy, which would've compounded the surprise for Italian audiences, a little bit like Psycho
shareThe sequence you highlight is one of the most famous in all of cinema and has a magical quality. About 25 years ago, I wrote a programme note for it in my cinema in which I said that with this sequence, the cinema seems to take flight. I think the main reason, 'objectively', why the sequence has such power is that for a lot of the preceding section of the film, the characters had been very constrained. This sequence shows them trying to break free but in a very tragic manner. The very poetic and dynamic style that Rosselini used counterpoints with the thematic tragedy.
There is an analogy in music - think of the Liebestod in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. In that you have a perfect musical expression of romantic longing, but in the context of death. It is very similar in Rosselini's film.
Mike
'Wisdom would be to see life, really see, that would be wisdom.' JLG.