That being said, I did have a favorite character and that is Don Pietro. I think he is very dynamic and courageous for a priest. Under different circumstances he probably would have been just another traditional Catholic priest, but times of war always change people. It either makes people strong or weak. I believe it made Manfredi, Don Pietro and Pina very strong people. All three ended up dying in heroic ways or through heroic or brave actions. Manfredi dies via torture because he doesn't give the Nazis any information about the resistance. Poor Pina is pregnant when she is shot and killed. She died chasing after Francesco who was being taken away. It was an unnecessary death, but it was brave of her to chase after her fiance. And of course Don Pietro died from a firing squad because he helped the resistance.
The Austrian deserter and Marina however, are very weak. The deserter ends up hanging himself because he believes he will give information to the Nazis. Marina is weak and is persuaded to betray Manfredi by actually giving information to the Nazis.
All of these deaths are relevant to the quote about how it's harder to live well than to die well. It's challenging, especially in wartime, to be on the side of good, or to live doing to right thing. During WWII, doing the right thing almost always got you killed. But as Don Pietro says, dying is the easy part. It's easier to end your life for the right reason, than to spend years and years fighting for what's right.
You're so right about the film being more a testament to what people will do under certain circumstances and the strength of the human but do you think Don Pietro is courageous because of his background or his character? Would another priest live up to the courage caliber that he presented?
ReplyDelete