The Man with the Cross (1943) User Reviews (3)

The cross,the hammer and sickle.

[dbdumonteil · 11 November 2003]

Made during the fascist years ,this is par excellence a propaganda movie.Roberto Rossellini 's work is sometimes preachy,mainly in the third part,when his hero tries to convince -and succeeds- the Russians that he is no sorcerer and that God loves everyone provided that he redeems his soul and comes back on the right way.The final recalls Jesus's death on the cross,the converted man playing the the good thief's part.Besides ,everybody speaks Italian and that does not help the credibility of the situations.

But Rossellini's genius -which would blossom is such works as " Europa 51" "Roma cita aperta " or " Germano anno zero " occasionally surfaces: except for the opening scenes -one of the first pictures shows doves-,the world depicted in "uomo della croce" is an apocalyptic one,we keep hearing shots during almost the whole movie : overwhelming sequences display a little boy screaming,a woman having her baby as a man is dying near her,while,outside,man's madness knows no bounds.

That said ,the cross,the hammer and sickle subject will be much better applied on "Europa 51" .

The movie is dedicated to the military chaplains.

Watching this film 75 five years after: the chaplain was right. The godless Bolsheviks got defeated.

[Boris_and_Natasha · 9/10 · 24 March 2019]

As a Russian, I couldn't help but notice that Soviet characters in this film lack depth and look like caricatures (except Irina, the female lead). This is understandable. Soviet propaganda circa 1943 did not bother with compassion to the enemy. To the author's credit -- he separated Soviets from Russians. Now, as of 2019, we know, that they were very different. And many Russians did not want to defend the rule of Soviets.

The film aged well. Its main message is still valid and relevant. A war between Europeans is an immense tragedy. Mutual animosity leads Europe to nowhere. Europe needs spiritual leaders who can rise above the fights -- usually instigated by third parties -- and bring peace using traditional European values.

Redrawing party lines

[tieman64 · 28 February 2012]

"Man With a Cross" was Roberto Rossellini's final film in what is now known as his "Fascist Trilogy", a trio of films made whilst Italy was under Fascist control. The film is typically brushed off as a propaganda peace – artists were forbidden from straying too far beyond Mussolini's party line – but this isn't quite so.

Unfolding across an apocalyptic landscape (cackling flames, wartorn vistas, tanks cruising the landscape like steel gargoyles), the film watches as a lowly military chaplain navigates the Eastern front. Here he attempts to bring God, and a little compassion, to various characters he stumbles upon. The chaplain character has been read as your archetypal "benign fascist", who "heals" and "sacrifices" and "brings outsiders into the merciful folds of God/fascism" (the film features scenes in which the chaplain races after Russian soldiers and attempts to convert them), but Rossellini seems more interesting in highlighting the commonalities between Fascist and Bolshevik alike. Consider, for example, Rossellini's opening shot, in which Christian doves and idyllic pastures are shattered by the sight of men putting on military uniforms. Another stand-out scene features the chaplain torn between administering death rights to a dying solder and tending to a newborn infant. End result: while the film does function as a traditional propaganda piece (only when on screen text appears, not put there by Rossellini), we actually see Rossellini engaging in subversion throughout, humanising the enemy, chastising both Italy and the divisions foisted by uniforms, and expressing a deep and affecting compassion for all of war's victims. Nevertheless, this is minor Rossellini.

7.9/10 – Worth one viewing. The film is notable for several apocalyptic, surreal combat sequences.