Directed by Francesco Rosi • 1979 • Italy
Starring Gian Maria Volontè, Paolo Bonacelli, Alain Cuny
An elegy of exile and an epic immersion in the world of rural Italy during the regime of Benito Mussolini, Francesco Rosi’s sublime adaptation of the memoirs of the painter, physician, and political activist Carlo Levi brings a monument of twentieth-century autobiography to the screen with quiet grace and solemn beauty. Banished to a desolate southern town for his anti-Fascist views, Levi (Gian Maria Volontè) discovers an Italy he never knew existed, a place where ancient folkways and superstitions still hold sway, and that gradually transforms his understanding of both himself and his country. Presented in its original full-length, four-part version, CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI ruminates profoundly on the political and philosophical rifts within Italian society—between North and South, tradition and modernity, Fascism and freedom—and the essential humanity that transcends all.
Up Next in Christ Stopped at Eboli
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CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI on “Italiques”
In the following segment from the August 9, 1974, episode of the French talk show “Italiques,” directed by Michel Random, director Francesco Rosi and author and painter Carlo Levi discuss postwar Italian literature and film, Levi’s exile, his 1945 novel “Christ Stopped Eboli,” and its political a...
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Michael F. Moore on CHRIST STOPPED AT...
Translator, interpreter, and writer Michael F. Moore worked on the subtitles for the restored version of CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI, taking into account the dialects of the Basilicata region of Italy, where the film takes place. In this interview, filmed in 2020, he discusses director Francesco Rosi...
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Reflections on a Political Cinema
This documentary, directed by Bouramy Tioulong, aired on the French television series “Ciné regards” on July 5, 1978. The program addresses the challenges facing the Italian film industry at the time and includes interviews with filmmakers Francesco Rosi and Elio Petri and actor Gian Maria Volont...
