The young Princess Anna arrives in Rome on an official visit. Her days are scheduled by the minute – receptions, visits to factories, interviews… in general, boredom! She is just a girl, she wants freedom and runs away from the palace to the streets where the citizens of the Eternal City walk, sing and kiss.
Alas, shortly before her escape, the doctor gives her a shot of sleeping pills and the princess falls asleep on a bench. And passing by is an American journalist Joe Bradley, who is returning home after an evening at the card table. Early in the morning, on the editor’s assignment, he has to be at a press conference with Princess Anne, whom he has never seen in his eyes….
4k movies reviews
Unfortunately, we still have time to hide our true face under many masks throughout our lives. We often forget about it, trying to avoid stamps and disappointments, trying to muffle warm words or to put on a fog of pedantic omniscience, but openness to the world requires a little, but real courage. In any case, no matter how we are, we are always looking for one thing in others. Sincerity. We look for it in people, in music, in books, in cinema, finally …
…Summer 1952 in the Eternal City was very hot, and the crowds of tourists interfered with the director. William Wyler, one of the classics of Hollywood, filmed the story of Cinderella in reverse, about a princess who escaped from the palace and fell in love with a simple journalist. Despite the difficulties Wyler steadfastly hummed the motif of youth, love, beauty, light watercolor flowing through the streets, squares, courtyards of Rome, sunny stream ran further down the sidewalk, dissolving in it, people, the sky above the city … Inexplicably, this sparkling spirit could be absorbed by the camera, transmitted to the ordinary, hitherto ordinary film, and from there – to many generations of viewers around the world, sweeping away the stingy framework of all kinds of definitions and traps of analysis. Then, in ’52, Rome, which knows how to keep its secrets, shared one of them. That was a movie that, like its ancestor city, fits the definition of “timeless” in the best possible way.
We were given a sincere, subtle movie, a classic, in some ways charmingly naive, in other pinching tragic, masterfully combining fun and bottomless sadness – “Roman Holiday”, disarming open, wise view of life without corrosive grains of cynicism. Glorious movie created Wyler, from the category of those that after many years appear all the same important, eternal, like the Phoenix bird, not knowing the dust on its plumage.
“Roman Holiday” is one of those movies that you have to be able to feel. Not to drearily dig into the plot, acting, idea, but to relax completely, to immerse yourself in the amazing atmosphere of the story, sensitively trusting your heart, leisurely walk through the nooks and crannies of it. This is a journey inside yourself, your real self, before the edges of your worldview are worn down by the sharp corners of life. Then the magic world will become tangible, the heroes will walk side by side with the audience, walking confidently and beautifully, giving the most precious thing – joy.
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck delight. Admire how they harmoniously combined the image of their character with a part of themselves, thanks to which the fragile Princess Anne and noble Joe Bradley once entered our lives. These two people have succeeded in the most difficult thing in the world – the belief in a miracle, in the possibility of it, in a meaningful mark on the loose sand of fate. They managed to make it so that sometimes in the reckless word “vacation” suddenly briefly heard a note of sadness, making you feel sharper about your actions.
And in Anna, so fragile and airy, one can see the strength of character, determination and desperation of a very mature person. And Joe Bradley appears open and spiritualized in his ability to appreciate the beauty around him, to be true to his principles. And the viewer echoes Anna’s laughter, frowns his eyebrows slyly, imitating Joe, walks lightly along the magical streets, sees the Colosseum, has fun in front of a dozen photographers and feels sad over something most precious, let go, but not lost… Perhaps, this is the real magic.
So let’s smile to the world, even if a little sad, but such a sincere smile! Otherwise, how else would it be possible to know or believe that the most delicious ice cream in the world is the one Anna ate on the stairs…?
Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (52.1 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Audio
English: FLAC 2.0
Subtitles
English SDH, Czech, French, German, Japanese, Korean.
