Rome 11:00
| Roma, ore 11 | |
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| Directed by | Giuseppe De Santis |
| Written by |
Cesare Zavattini Basilio Franchina Giuseppe De Santis Rodolfo Sonego Gianni Puccini |
| Starring |
Carla Del Poggio Lucia Bosé Raf Vallone |
| Music by | Mario Nascimbene |
| Cinematography | Otello Martelli |
| Edited by | Gabriele Varriale |
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Release date
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Running time
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105 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
Rome 11 o'clock or Roma, ore 11 (1952) is an Italian film directed by Giuseppe De Santis and one of the best examples of Neorealist filmmaking. The dramatic plot is based on the real story of an accident that happened on 15 January 1951 on Via Savoia in Rome when a staircase collapsed because of the weight of two hundred women waiting for a job interview. Eighty women were injured or killed.
Augusto Genina made the film Tre storie proibite, based on the same tragic event.
In the early 1950s, Italy was suffering from serious unemployment and it was especially difficult for women to get jobs. In response to a newspaper ad seeking a secretary for an accountant's office, the two hundred women crowded the small building's staircase, hoping for an interview. They came from diverse backgrounds: fallen nobles, prostitutes seeking to change their lives, wives with unemployed husbands, and affluent daughters with not enough pension to survive.
Waiting on the stairs, the women exchange impressions and discuss their lives of misery and their tricks for making a living. Gianna, played by Eva Vanicek is first in line, the pawn of a strong-willed mother, while Caterina, played by Lea Padovani, is a prostitute hoping for a new life. Angelina, played by Delia Scala is a servant, also hoping to escape her situation. Other characters include a pregnant unwed mother, a young woman who wants to be a singer, and an artist's mistress.
When a poor workman's wife, Luciana Renzoni, played by Carla Del Poggio, tries to move ahead in the line, the resulting scuffle among the women causes the staircase to collapse.
The injured are taken to a hospital, but to be treated, the hospital is demanding a payment of 2,300 Lire per day. Many of them are unable to pay and are forced to go home.
New York Times film critic, Bosley Crowther called Rome 11:00 a "vivid, raw-boned movie" and "a film of absorbing interest and persistent emotional power." He also praised Carla Del Poggio for her sensitive portrayal of the anguish felt by her character, Luciana Renzoni, after precipitating the tragedy.
In 1956, filmmaker Elio Petri published Roma ore 11, a collection of his interviews with people involved in the tragedy. The documentation originally served as a basis for the film. The work was republished in 2004.
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Wikipedia