Roberto Rosselini’s 1954 film Journey to Italy is set in Naples, Pompei, and Capri. The film opens with the main characters Alex and Katherine driving down a road on their way to Naples. Alex and Katherine open the film and seem like distant friends rather than husband an wife. Alex’s tone when asking where they are and Katherine’s short and pointed responses not only take place at the start of the film but continue all the way until the very last scene. The plot of the film is very simple and straight forward. Alex and Katherine are traveling to Naples to sale the Italian villa they inherited from their uncle Homer. They seem to be an ill-suited couple. Katherine seems young, curious, vibrate, whereas, Alex is money-hungry and openly flirts with other women in front of Katherine. 

As the film goes on, Alex decides he’s going to part ways with Katherine and head to Capri with some English tourists. Katherine spends the majority of her time visiting famous ruins, landmarks, and museums. The final scene of the film begins with Alex and Katherine agreeing that they should get a divorce as soon as they get back to England. While visiting the ancient ruins of Pompei one of the archeologists discovers bones of two people embracing themselves before they were consumed by lava. Signifying the importance of being with your loved ones. As Alex and Katherine get stuck in the street due in large part of a catholic ceremony stopping traffic, they realize they are still very much in love and can’t live without one another.

 

From my perspective, this film seems very conventional. The plot is very straight forward for a romantic drama. The characters identify their conflict very early on, there is a huge challenge that both of them overcome together and they ride off into the sunset. However, Journey to Italy was one of Rosselini’s first movies that moved away from Neorealism. He was famous for preferring to film in real locations because movie sets were expensive, less about the “realistic” nature of the environment. Therefore, all shots were filmed in Capri, Naples, and Pompei. “People talk about neorealism . . . it’s a joke. The real reason that Rossellini films in the streets is that studio sets cost money.” (Robert Rossellini, The Bergman Era, pg 157)

 

However, there is a significant amount of evidence that argues this film as being unconventional. For example, the entire film shows Alex and Katherine growing further and further apart to the point where they agree to get a divorce. Then by some sort of divine power of love, they change their minds and embrace one another as if they had deep undeniable passion all along. its difficult to pinpoint the place where they rekindled their fire but I believe Rossellini is attempting to suggest a dramatic shift in sentiment by Katherine and Alex. 

 

More evidence of the unconventional style by Rossellini was how they scripted the film. “Much of the film, indeed, was improvised, a situation that didn’t sit well with either Sanders or Bergman, though, as Rossellini’s wife after their “scandalous” liaison in the late 1940s, Bergman was much more used to Rossellini’s rather unconventional shooting style.” (Dossier Link) It’s not unreasonable to feel like Alex and Katherine did not fully understand their marriage issues or how they came to be so cold to one another. Rossellini does not offer much background before springing the viewer into a world of conflict. At times he offers up little nuggets of reasons why they grew apart. I suspect that the lack of children was a pain point for Alex, as he always wanted them but Katherine was not. Rossellini even had days where he did not film due to the fact that he was not inspired to work. 

“But yet, despite all the wandering and searching that the film depicts, and the seemingly haphazard manner in which it was shot and “scripted”, Voyage to Italy succeeds on every level because it is itself a voyage of discovery…” (Dossier Link) 

Rossellini was attempting to follow the lead actors around the Italian countryside in an attempt to capture a connection that drives home the conventional ending. 

 

My perspective of the film as that it seems like a conventional romantic drama. However, the production, set, and lack of script makes this film very unconventional for its time. The storyline seems to follow a similar recipe for classic romantic films. But the manner in which the film was produced was unique for its time. Based on what I have read, Journey to Italy did not do well in the box office but would later be recognized as a pioneering film for Neorealism and the non-scripted production.