Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Cosmoeticadotcom Having grown up amongst many folks of Italian descent, the term paisan, or pal, was quite familiar to me; especially when used by non-Italians to describe Italian friends of theirs. A similar meaning is conveyed with the use of the term as the title of the second film in Robert Rossellini's War Trilogy. Paisan (Paisá), from 1946, is not nearly as well known as Rome Open City, his first trilogy film, but it is a significantly better film, as well as being more truly a Neo-Realist film than its more melodramatic predecessor. Part of the reason is that the 126 minute film is episodic, so that the mawkishness and melodrama, that is inherent in many war stories, never gets to the point of overwhelm. Made and released a year after Rome Open City, Paisan often played on double bills with the earlier film when it was released in America. The film is set during 1943 and 1944, and each of the six episodes follows the Allies' chronological battles northward through Italy. Each episode highlights willful or mistaken miscommunication between the Allies, the Italians, and the Nazis. The film won many awards, in its day, but curiously languished while other Neo-Realist films became exalted as classics. While not, overall, a great film, three of the episodes reach heights that contain great moments, and these are enough to argue the film passes the near-great threshold, meaning reasonable arguments can be made in its favor. Those episodes are the third, the fourth, and the sixth and final one. The others range from bad to solid. All the episodes open with narration by Giulio Panicali.

cocomariev Robert Rossellini series of short stories will have you at the edge of your seat. From romance to action, each story vividly portrays the Italian Neo-realist style. Paisan touches base on documentary, society and politics. I think that Rossellini did great job at hiring non- professional actors in order to incorporate them within the backdrop of the scenes. The storyline was also very detailed and made it seem like it was more of a documentary than an actual fictional film. The movie had me guessing at some points which kept me interested throughout the film. I noticed that Rossellini left room for us to fill in the story, letting us take on our own interpretation on things. For example, in each of the stories we don't really know much about the protagonist and I found myself creating their backgrounds in my mind. He did a wonderful job at inspiring emotion whether it be positive or negative. I have to admit that before I watched this film in class I was a bit skeptical. I definitely think that it portrays great characteristics of of neo- realism. One of the scenes that I thought was really interesting was when the baby is alone with no one to comfort or take care of him/her. It made me extremely sad but did a great job at illustrating the nature of war. He did a great job at illustrating Italy during World War II. I thought he provided several elements for us to choose from, giving us something to relate to and become emotionally attached to. Rossellini did a fantastic job at creating and directing a film that seemed extremely real. He blurred the lines between documentary and fiction beautifully. Now I see why he was very respected for his films.

finchy9-976-77969 The film Paisan from Roberto Rossellini is a very influential film in terms of it truly expressed Italian neorealism. The film itself deals with the poor soldier class during World War II in Nazi Germany as they are basically losing the war against the Allied forces. I got this sort of authenticity from the film though just because Rossellini went with non-professional actors which is very common in Italian neorealism films. Because most of these actors were probably soldiers during World War II it gave me a better view of what the characters actually went through in terms of how they experienced the war and it just made the movie more authentic which is what you want in a film like this. It was a relatively long movie, split up into six different chapters, and all the dialogue is spoken in Italian. The Italian dialogue has it's ups and downs for me in terms of, yes, this is an Italian neorealist film so the basic language should be Italian. But for me being of a newer, younger generation these types movies can be hard to sit through just because my generation is used to the violent action packed cinema. And while I really enjoyed Inglourious Basterds (which is like 2/3 in another language besides English) it still just makes the watching experience that much longer and unenjoyable. So my only complaint in this movie is the Italian dialogue with English subtitles, but overall it gets the point across. And I now have a set example of how an Italian neorealist movie is made.

CoolReviewBro General Sherman himself said that "war is Hell" and while Paisan indeed reflects this wartime quote the film is not all doom and gloom. Paisan instead seems to give a wartime portrayal that focuses on the little details that represent a larger reality of what war is like for the many parties involved in the Italian liberation. Paisan will take the viewer through six non-connected episodes that each tell a distinct, meaningful, and illustrious story in themselves. Most notable for me were episodes one and two. Episode one begins in Sicily and tells the story of a young Sicilian girl aiding American troops in their anxiety ridden arrival in Sicily. Like Paisan's ending episode, the first episode does not go well with blood shed on behalf of Nazi troops (with the film's "first blood" being shed by a sharpshooting Nazi sniper). While the Germans in the film seem to be portrayed in a negative light, episode one is interesting for its apt portrayal of German humor in ironically awful wartime circumstances. Episode two tells the story of two separate interactions between an African American MP and a young Italian boy. Split in two parts from the perspective of the MP (off-duty/drunk and on-duty/sober) we witness a small series of events that seem to reflect a twisted "home is home, be it ever so humble" message for the MP. Indeed, I found this scene to be most powerful in delivering this subtle message as the MP in his drunk state repeatedly tells the boy he doesn't want to go back to America to his "shack of a home." Later, the MP witnesses a young boy stealing from a supply truck. Upon apprehending the boy the MP discovers that it was the same boy he met during his previous off-duty drunk adventure. After chastising and hassling the boy to teach him a lesson, the MP discovers that the boy is a wartime orphan who lives in abject poverty with no home at all. Upon realization, the MP abruptly runs away and ignores the boy's prior mischievous behavior. It is small, disconnected stories sans closure like this that make up Paisan. Watching Paisan in its entirety for the other episodes will indeed be well worth your time.