City of Pain (1949): Pula between drama and documentary

Updated October 15, 2026.

Mario Bonnard's City of Pain follows a family in Pula during the 1947 exodus. He wove documentary footage of residents leaving into the drama.

Berto's decision to stay

Luigi Tosi plays Berto, a worker who decides to stay in the city while much of its Italian population leaves. He hopes for a better position under the new Yugoslav authorities, but becomes disillusioned. His wife and son manage to leave for Venice, while he ends up in a labour camp.

Bonnard directed the film under its original title, La città dolente. He wrote the screenplay with Federico Fellini, Anton Giulio Majano and Aldo De Benedetti. Tonino Delli Colli was the cinematographer.

Footage of the 1947 exodus

The drama incorporates extracts from the newsreel known as Pola, addio. Cameraman Gianni Alberto Vitrotti recorded residents leaving in 1947, carrying luggage and boarding the steamship Toscana. These images show real departures from Pula, while Berto's fate belongs to the fictional story.

The documentary material is held in the archives of Istituto Luce and Cineteca del Friuli. Cineteca Nazionale, Istituto Luce and Cineteca del Friuli took part in restoring City of Pain.

Actors: Luigi Tosi, Barbara Costanova, Gianni Rizzo

Director: Mario Bonnard