Paisan

Saw Paisan, a 1946 war film. It was structured as a series of vignettes set during the allied invasion/occupation of Italy. I was surprised at the nuanced view of the allies. The final vignette ends with a clearly telegraphed war-crime on the Nazi's part, so it's not like this film totally transcends its time-period, but there is another vignette about an American MP who has his shoes stolen by a street urchin. He demands his shoes back and makes the urchin bring him to his shack in a sort of tent-city, a place thronging thick with displaced woman and children. At first their excitement at seeing him seems almost charming, but then the hungry eyes and outstretched hands of starving children get to be too much for him and he flees their slum, still shoeless.

Many of the vignettes similarly avoid pat happy endings. They show a worrying similarity to the 'gotcha' twists of The Twilight Zone (especially the first vignette,) but never actually become quite that campy. The nonsense and black irony of war is on full display here, but avoids becoming wearying or trite. Perhaps the memories were still too fresh for anyone to dare to try and provide morals or points.

Very interesting and quite exciting. This film also predates the discovery that dirt existed on the soldierly form, so everyone's very clean-shaven and photogenic.