Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
A tragic story based on true events, Giuseppe De Santis’ 1952 “Roma ore 11” (Rome 11:00) follows several young women in post-WWII Rome as they answer a single job listing for a typist. When 200 women are in line on one staircase spanning several floors, a crack leads to the collapse of the entire staircase. Dozens were injured, and one person was killed. The tragedy spoke to the poverty and desperation of so many Italians in the early 1950s before the ’58 industrial boom began.
The prolific screenwriter Cesare Zavattini contributed to the script, which was based on testimonials. Filmmaker Elio Petri, an assistant to De Santis at the time, interviewed many of the victims and cast a few in supporting roles alongside stars Lucia Bosè, Carla Del Poggio and Raf Vallone.
The real-life tragedy took place on January 15, 1951, at 11 in the morning. Some details in De Santis’ interpretation are fictionalized. For example, the film is set in Largo Circense 37, while the actual collapse took place in Via Savoia 31, located in Rome’s Salario district. The entire piazza outside the original site was reconstructed in the studio by the famous French scenographer Léon Barsacq.
To view the film, click here.
