Rome, Open City
In an interview with journalist Robert K. Elder for "The Film That Changed My Life", Hiller states that the film "Rome, Open City" (1945) had had a strong influence on his career because he saw it right after leaving the military where he was a bomber navigator in the Canadian Air Force. The film is set during the Nazi occupation of Italy and shows the priesthood and the Communists teaming up against the enemy forces. Hiller commented, "You just get the strongest emotional feelings about what happened to people in Italy."