Director of Italian cinema, born in Rome in a family of cinematographic industrialists. While it rolled films of documentary cut in 1934, political propaganda of the facist regime of Benito Mussolini, secretly filmed the life in Rome during the last days of II the World war.

These scenes incorporated Rome, open city (1945), masterpiece and emblem of the neorealism with script of Federico Fellini, and Paisa (1946). Both films are characterized by the social commitment, the realistic locations, the use of the photography in black and white, heavy grain, and the use of nonprofessional actors. Other remarkable films of the neorealism would be Germany year zero (1947), on the postwar period in that country, Stromboli (1949), carried out by Ingrid Bergman, with whom married after a complicated relation that to the actress carried the rejection to him of the puritana American society and it prevented him to work in that country during years.

In 1950 it directed Francisco, to juglar of God, and in 1952 Europe 1951. With both films one becomes the teacher and inspirador of an Italian style of realistic comedy who will continue among other Vittorio de Sica and the Spanish Luis Garci'a Berlanga with the machine matamalvados (1948).

Nevertheless, the problems that it has with the industry make him leave the cinema and dedicate themselves totally to the television. It makes then several historical series acclaimed internationally, like the age of the iron (1964), or the ascent to the power of Luis XIV (1966), and other more irregular telefilms: Sócrates (1971), or Blaise Pascal (1974). Isabella Rossellini, daughter hers and of Ingrid Bergman, is actress, and his Renzo brother, composer, have written the music of several of his films.