Italian Neorealist director Roberto Rossellini, (1906-1977), made a series of films just after World War II labeled the “War Trilogy”. They have been issued in a DVD box set :
“Rome Open City, (1945)” “Paisan” (1946) and “Germany Year Zero” (1948)
Acclaimed by French directors François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, their articles appeared in the film magazine “Cahiers du Cinema”, declaring Rosselini “the father of the French New Wave”. His use of non-actors, his focus on little human interest stories and his use of the Italian street as back drop gave Rossellini ‘s films a grittiness and realism rarely seen in Europe before the war.
Roberto Rossellini’s “War Trilogy”
These movies and others at that time (post 2nd WW) are special, partly because they are without makeup,special effects or John Wayne. There simplicity is what made them both beautiful and real.