Noir City: Four Ways Out
February 21, 2024
The heist drama, Federico Fellini-style. The Maestro has story and screenplay credit on this nearly forgotten film about a quartet of amateur thieves who successfully execute a daring mid-match robbery at a soccer stadium. They must separate to evade the police, but escaping their personal demons proves far more difficult. Presented on 35mm.
Individual Tickets: $16 | $11 SIFF Members - Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $150 | $125 SIFF Members
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
This is a heist drama, Federico Fellini-style. The Maestro has story and screenplay credit on this nearly forgotten film about a quartet of amateur thieves who successfully execute a daring mid-match robbery at a soccer stadium. They must part ways to evade the police, but escaping their personal demons proves far more difficult. Clearly influenced by The Asphalt Jungle, this is a humanist crime thriller that's equal parts film noir and neo-realism. It features a young and imperious Gina Lollobrigida amidst an affecting and eccentric array of vulnerable men who are anything but hardened criminals. Pietro Germi's dynamic direction earned La città si difende the Best Italian Film award at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. —Film synopsis courtesy of Noir City
- Original Language Title: La città si difende
- Director: Pietro Germi
- Principal Cast: Renato Baldini, Gina Lollobrigida, Cosetta Greco, Fausto Tozz, Paul Muller
- Country: Italy
- Year: 1951
- Running Time: 84 min.
- Producer: Eduardo Capolino
- Screenplay: Luigi Comencini, Federico Fellini, Pietro Germi, Tullio Pinelli
- Cinematographers: Carlo Montuori
- Editors: Rolando Benedetti
- Music: Carlo Rustichelli
- Awards: Venice Film Festival 1951 (Best Italian Film)
- Filmography: The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966), Divorce Italian Style (1961), The Facts of Murder (1959)
- Language: Italian
- Format: 35mm
- International Sales: Viggo