Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month

The Machine that Kills Bad People
Roberto Rossellini's film about a photographer who is given the power to rid the Earth of 'evil-doers'.
Director: Roberto Rossellini and Luciano Emmer
Overview
A photographer is given the power to rid the Earth of 'evil-doers' using his camera, but soon becomes addicted to his power and begins to smite down everyone indiscriminately.
Made in the middle of his run of films with Ingrid Bergman, The Machine That Kills Bad People finds Rossellini displaying the more humorous and fantastical possibilities of neo-realist cinema (much like Vittorio De Sica’s Miracle in Milan, from the previous year) and offers evidence of his transition to the more poetic style seen in his Bergman collaborations.
Related

The Living Wake The Living Wake
Comedy 2007 92 mins Director: Sol Tyron
Accompanied by his faithful assistant Mills (Jesse Eisenberg), self-proclaimed genius K. Roth Binew (Mike O’Connell) decides to go out in style following a terminal prognosis – staging a living wake.

Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.

The Love Witch The Love Witch
Comedy 2016 121 mins Director: Anna Biller
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in Anna Biller's outrageous tribute to 1960s Technicolor melodramas.

Hannah Takes the Stairs Hannah Takes the Stairs
Comedy 2006 84 mins Director: Joe Swanberg
Greta Gerwig plays the carefree intern who finds herself at the centre of a love triangle with two co-workers, in this charming 'mumblecore' rom-com.

The Queen of My Dreams The Queen of My Dreams
Comedy 2023 99 mins Director: Fawzia Mirza
Soulful story of the love and war between a queer woman and her mother, spanning across decades and continents.

The Last Detail The Last Detail
Comedy 1973 104 mins Director: Hal Ashby
Jack Nicholson is at his very best in this highly-acclaimed dramatic comedy from Hal Ashby about three sailors on the loose.

Rome, Open City Rome, Open City
Drama 1945 103 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made.

Stromboli, Land of God Stromboli, Land of God
Drama 1950 100 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
In her first collaboration with Roberto Rossellini, Ingrid Bergman stars as a refugee who marries a fisherman and moves to a barren island.

Bicycle Thieves Bicycle Thieves
Drama 1948 89 mins Director: Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica’s story of a father and son searching for a stolen bicycle on the streets of Rome is a classic of post-war Italian cinema.

Paisà Paisà
War 1946 126 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s ambitious and enormously moving follow-up to his breakthrough Rome, Open City.

Germany, Year Zero Germany, Year Zero
War 1948 73 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
The concluding part of Roberto Rossellini’s celebrated War Trilogy, set amid the war-torn ruins of Berlin.

Journey to Italy Journey to Italy
Drama 1954 86 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini's acerbic but finally very moving masterpiece about marital crisis boasts great performances from Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders

Stromboli, Land of God Stromboli, Land of God
Drama 1950 100 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
In her first collaboration with Roberto Rossellini, Ingrid Bergman stars as a refugee who marries a fisherman and moves to a barren island.

Journey to Italy Journey to Italy
Drama 1954 86 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini's acerbic but finally very moving masterpiece about marital crisis boasts great performances from Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders

Germany, Year Zero Germany, Year Zero
War 1948 73 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
The concluding part of Roberto Rossellini’s celebrated War Trilogy, set amid the war-torn ruins of Berlin.

Rome, Open City Rome, Open City
Drama 1945 103 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made.

Paisà Paisà
War 1946 126 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s ambitious and enormously moving follow-up to his breakthrough Rome, Open City.

The Saragossa Manuscript The Saragossa Manuscript
Fantasy 1965 183 mins Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
During the Napoleonic wars, a soldier discovers a strange manuscript that reveals endless stories-within-stories. Wojciech Has' opus is a major cult film of the 60s, revered by Luis Buñuel, David Lynch and Jerry Garcia.

The Noose The Noose
Drama 1958 98 mins Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
Wojciech Has’ dazzling feature debut, a bleak, mordantly funny, all too human portrait of an alcoholic.

The Hourglass Sanatorium The Hourglass Sanatorium
Fantasy 1973 119 mins Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
The first screen adaptation of Bruno Schulz’s novella is an opulently strange trip through a Polish-Jewish looking-glass.

The Doll The Doll
Drama 1968 153 mins Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
Widescreen adaptation of Bolesław Prus’s 1870s-set novel about a man who cannot escape his class straitjacket.

How to Be Loved How to Be Loved
Drama 1962 98 mins Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
An actress struggles to reconcile the choices of her past as she travels from Warsaw to Paris in this distinct depiction of the German Occupation from a female perspective, from director Wojciech Jerzy Has (The Saragossa Manuscript).

Silent Roar Silent Roar
Drama 2023 90 mins Director: Johnny Barrington
On the Isle of Lewis, a passionate surfer and his childhood sweetheart have dreams of escaping the past and the present, in Jonny Barrington's charming, windswept comedy with echoes of Bill Forsyth.