The silence echoing among the piles of rubble is the only thing that defines post-World War II Berlin. The streets are in shambles, and the buildings are nothing but ruins. Twelve-year-old Edmund is fighting to survive in the concrete labyrinths of this devastated city. Directed by Roberto Rossellini, this drama centers on the heavy responsibilities placed on a child’s shoulders. Bearing the hallmarks of the Italian neorealist movement, the film weaves its tragedy not with grand rhetoric, but through streets reeking of hunger and weary footsteps. Set against the gray tones of an orphaned city, the film shows how innocence is crushed beneath the rubble.