Paisan (1946)

The second of Rossellini’s war trilogy, this collection of six different episodes tell of a variety of experiences had during the Italian Campaign: an Italian woman agrees to guide American soldiers through a German minefield, a Neapolitan street urchin befriends a drunken Black soldier only to steal his boots after he falls asleep, a different American soldier meets an Italian prostitute only for her to realize they’ve met before, an American nurse and Italian man together risk their lives through battling areas to find news of loved ones, three American chaplains of different religious persuasions take refuge in an Italian Catholic monastery, and members of the OSS fight alongside Italian partisans in the Po delta. . The stories, each written by a different screenwriter, vary in strength but all focus in some way on the interactions between Italian citizens and Allied military members. Language barriers and suspicions of loyalty often get in the way of accomplishing goals and finding peace. 

Oscar Nomination: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay