To begin with, the presence of melodrama in these canonical neorealist films may seem surprising, because neorealism is often classified as a reaction against the melodramas of the time . Before World War II, Italian melodramas, created in an attempt to wean Italian audiences away from imported American films, dominated the market at all levels and in all regions of Italy. These films followed classic narrative techniques and did little to reflect the reality of the Italian working class. After the war, the problem multiplied as Hollywood imports, known for glamor and melodrama, threatened to monopolize the Italian consumer market. Neorealism was born as a response to the enormous amount of melodrama and the attempt of Italian directors to conquer the domestic market with new and culturally honest films. This new movement not only focused on the plight of the common person rather than the glamorous drama of the bourgeoisie, but also made revolutionary changes to the formal elements of film. To name a few of these introduced formal elements, neorealist films feature location shooting, restrained expressionism of lighting, camera placement at eye level, non-professional actors, and dialectical dialogue. Clearly, these qualities contrasted with the artificial feeling and showy formal techniques. of Hollywood imports and previously popular Italian melodramas. This raises the question not only of how elements of melodrama can coexist so well in neorealist films such as Rome, Open City and Bitter Rice, but also why directors chose to incorporate those elements into their films. Some critics, such as Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, explain the appearance of melodramatic elements in... middle of paper... Millicent. “Pina's Pregnancy, Traumatic Realism, and the Afterlife of the Open City.” Italica 85.4 (2008): 426-38. JSTOR. Network. April 10, 2014.Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. "Introduction." Hollywood and Europe: Economy, Culture, National Identity: 1945-95. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith and Steven Ricci. London: British Film Institute, 1998. 1-18. Print.Paisa. Director Roberto Rossellini. International Film Organization, 1946. DVD. Bitter Rice. Dir. Giuseppe De Santis. Perf. Silvana Mangano, Doris Dowling and Vittorio Gassman. Lux Film, 1949. DVD.Roma Città Aperta. Director Roberto Rossellini. Perf. Aldo Fabrizi and Anna Magnani. Excelsa Film, 1945. DVD.Wagstaff, Christopher. “Italian genre cinema on the world market”. Hollywood and Europe: Economy, Culture, National Identity: 1945-95. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith and Steven Ricci. London: British Film Institute, 1998. 74-85. Press.