Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
La Città si Difende (1951)
Director: Pietro Germi
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Four men steal the takings from a football stadium. They split up, and homegrown neo-realism is crossed with Hollywood-style noir, as one by one they try and fail to break out of the big, unforgiving city. Germi is so determined to forge ahead from one set-piece to the next that his gallery of femmes fatales, predatory underworld figures and grim-faced police barely register as characters, except via little cameos (a cop's look of distaste as he picks up a discarded bra). Visually exciting, but superficial; few will be able to resist mentally replacing the cast with more familiar Hollywood analogues - the Burt Lancaster dumb ox, the Sal Mineo weakling, etc.Author: BBa
Cast & crew
Director: Pietro Germi
Producer: Carlo Civallero
Cast: Renato Baldini, Fausto Tozzi, Paul Müller, Enzo Maggio, Gina Lollobrigida, Tamara Lees full cast
Genre(s): Film Noir
Duration: 85 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects






What do you think?
Post your review now