SINNE:
I am ecstatic you loved The Search. So did I, obviously. How could anyone not? Even then the Academy was screwing things up royally, leaving it off the Best Picture list (not to mention Max Ophuls' Letter from an Unknown Woman and the other great Monty Clift film that year, Red River).
I like your analogy to the post-war films of Rossellini (not to mention Luchino Visconti), it does seem like director Fred Zinnemann was going for that feeling, and succeeded. My favorite Rosselini is Open City, and I also like Paisan. I am not a big fan of the highly acclaimed Voyage to Italy, and unfortunately have yet to see The Rise of Louis XIV. Also, check out La Terra Trema by Visconti, it is amazing. So is his 1963 The Leopard, but very different. I think all are available on netflix, which I am not sure is available in Canada, but there is definitely a netflix equivalent, I occasionally get junk mail from them even though I am not eligible to use them. If you do a google search no doubt you'll find them.
thx