Rome, Open City - Characters & Cast

His primary motivation is his Christian faith and a profound sense of duty to help anyone fighting for justice and liberty, which he believes is the "path of God." He is driven by a commitment to charity and humanity that transcends political ideologies, allowing him to collaborate with communists like Manfredi against the greater evil of Nazism.

Don Pietro begins as a parish priest dedicated to his community and willing to help those in need. As the narrative progresses, his involvement with the Resistance deepens, forcing him to confront the Nazi regime directly. He transforms from a provider of spiritual and material aid into a symbol of moral defiance. His arc culminates in his martyrdom, where he faces death with unwavering faith and courage, becoming a spiritual rock for the Resistance and a testament to the power of faith in action.

Pina is motivated by a fierce love for her family—her son Marcello and her fiancé Francesco—and a deep-seated sense of justice. She is pragmatic and devout, wrestling with her faith amidst the horrors of war but ultimately acting on instinct and a powerful drive to protect her loved ones and fight for their future.

Pina represents the resilience and strength of the common Italian people. A pregnant widow preparing to marry the man she loves, she is grounded in the daily struggles of survival. Her character doesn't have a traditional arc of change but rather one of revelation; her inherent courage and fierce love are revealed in a moment of crisis. Her impulsive, desperate run towards the truck taking her fiancé is a primal scream against injustice, and her sudden, brutal death transforms her from an ordinary woman into an iconic symbol of civilian sacrifice and the heart of the resistance.

An atheist and a communist, Manfredi is driven by a powerful political and ideological commitment to liberating Italy from fascism and Nazism. He is willing to endure any hardship and make the ultimate sacrifice for his ideals and for the comrades who depend on him.

Manfredi is an experienced and dedicated Resistance leader, constantly on the run. His arc is one of steadfast commitment in the face of escalating danger. He begins as a strategic leader trying to evade capture and ends as a martyr who embodies the physical suffering of the cause. His refusal to break under extreme torture demonstrates the strength of his convictions, and his death serves to galvanize the resolve of others, like Don Pietro, and to shake the confidence of his captors.

Bergmann is motivated by a fanatical belief in Nazi ideology and a desire to crush all opposition through systematic terror and torture. He seeks to prove the dominance of his worldview by breaking the will of his prisoners, seeing their resistance not just as a military obstacle but as a personal and ideological affront.

Major Bergmann is the personification of the cold, calculating evil of the Nazi regime. He does not undergo a significant change but rather his arrogance and cruelty are steadily revealed. He begins confident in his methods and the superiority of the "master race." However, his inability to break Manfredi or Don Pietro represents a psychological and ideological defeat. He succeeds in killing them physically but fails to destroy their spirit, leaving him shaken and his worldview challenged by the resilience of those he deems a "slave race."