''The Man with a Cross'' ( it, L'uomo dalla croce) is a 1943 Italian

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...

and starring Alberto Tavazzi, Roswita Schmidt and

Attilio Dottesio Attilio Dottesio (16 July 1909 – 12 February 1989) was an Italian film character actor and singer. He appeared in 170 films between 1940 and 1985. Born in Brescia, Dottesio began his career in France, where first he obtained some success ...

. It was the final part of Rossellini's "Fascist trilogy" following '' The White Ship'' (1941) and ''

A Pilot Returns ''A Pilot Returns'' (Italian: ''Un pilota ritorna'') is a 1942 Italian war film directed by Roberto Rossellini and starring Massimo Girotti, Michela Belmonte and Piero Lulli. The film forms part of Rossellini's "Fascist trilogy" along with '' The ...

'' (1942). It is loosely inspired by Reginaldo Giuliani, an Italian military chaplain who had been killed on active service. The film was made at

Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...

with

location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for exam ...

in the countryside around

Ladispoli Ladispoli is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. It lies about west of Rome, on the Mediterranean Sea. History Modern Ladispoli includes the site of the ancient ''Alsium'' at nearby Palo Laziale, the po ...

standing in for the Eastern Front. Although the film incorporates elements of neorealism such as the use of

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

actors in some parts, stylistically it is closer to a more conventional war film. Rossellini cast his friend, the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Alberto Tavazzi in the title role, while his girlfriend Roswita Schmidt played the female lead.Bondanella. ''The Films of Roberto Rossellini''. p.37

Synopsis

The film is set in the summer of 1942 in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

where Italian troops are fighting those of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. A military chaplain volunteers to stay behind with a badly wounded Italian soldier, even though this means certain capture.

Cast

* Alberto Tavazzi as Il cappellano militare * Roswita Schmidt as Irina, la miliziana *

as Il carrista ferito * Doris Hild as Una contadina russa * Zoia Weneda as Un'altra contadina russa * Antonio Marietti as Serghej, il commissario del popolo *

Piero Pastore Pietro Mario Pastore, also known as Piero Pastore (3 April 1908, in Padua – 8 January 1968, in Rome) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a striker; he later became an actor. Football career Pastore was the youngest ever play ...

as Beyrov *

Aldo Capacci Aldo may refer to: * Aldo (given name), male given name ** Aldo (footballer, born 1977) ** Aldo (footballer, born 1988) * Aldo Group, a worldwide chain of shoe stores * Aldosterone in shorthand * Aldo Bonzi Aldo Bonzi is a town in La Mata ...

as Lo studente soldato * Franco Castellani as Un soldato russo ferito * Gualtiero Isnenghi as Il ferito antibolscevico * Antonio Suriano as Il soldato napoletano * Marcello Tanzi as Diego

References

Bibliography

*Bondanella, Peter. ''A History of Italian Cinema''. Continuum, 2009. * Bondanella, Peter. ''The Films of Roberto Rossellini''. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

External links

* 1943 films Italian war drama films Italian black-and-white films 1940s war drama films 1940s Italian-language films Films directed by Roberto Rossellini World War II films made in wartime Films set in Ukraine Films shot in Lazio Eastern Front of World War II films Films shot at Cinecittà Studios 1943 drama films Films scored by Renzo Rossellini Italian World War II films 1940s Italian films {{1940s-Italy-film-stub