Christ Stopped at Eboli

1979 [ITALIAN]

Action / Drama

8
IMDb Rating 7.7/10 10 2722 2.7K

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Plot summary

In the fascist Italy of 1935, a painter trained as a doctor is exiled to a remote region near Eboli. Over time, he learns to appreciate the beauty and wisdom of the peasants, and to overcome his isolation.


Uploaded by: FREEMAN
October 24, 2020 at 06:52 AM

Director

Top cast

Gian Maria Volonté as Carlo Levi
Irene Papas as Giulia Venere
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
567.64 MB
946*720
Italian 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 1 min
Seeds ...
1.03 GB
1408*1072
Italian 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 1 min
Seeds 6

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by brogmiller 10 / 10

Story of a year.

This is a story that had to be told. It might not have been had not Carlo Levi been exiled in 1935 for his anti-fascist activities to a town in the remote, impoverished Southern province of Lucania. His non-ideological, unsentimentalised, beautifully observed memoir of the year he spent there has been vividly realised by Francesco Rosi whose films are noted for their depiction of inequalities and injustices. The political activism of Gian Maria Volonté has been well-documented so this film could be seen as a distillation of the beliefs of both actor and director. The author himself had passed away four years earlier but this adaptation would surely have met with his approval.

Volonté's mellow, nuanced and understated portrayal of Levi, sadly overlooked in terms of awards, is indisputably one of his finest. It was the performance of Lea Massari in a comparatively small role as his wife that was recognised and very good she is too. Also appearing are the glorious Irene Papas and the always enigmatic Alain Cuny. Rosi of course was renowned for his skill with actors.

This is about a region that time has forgotten and for which its nation does not care. Looked down upon by the rich, industrialised North, economically depressed, lacking the basics of life and with no facilities, its residents have succumbed to superstition and mysticism. As for Religion "Christ stopped short of here" and its sole representative is a drunken, discredited priest. The pro-fascist mayor, played by Paolo Bonacelli, tries to get the inhabitants interested in the radio broadcasts of Mussolini but they are totally indifferent and simply do not care that Addis Abbaba has fallen! Ironically it was the young men of this region who supplied so much of the cannon fodder in the trenches of WW1 which was the subject of Rosi's earlier 'Uomini Contro'.

Originally made for television this slightly truncated version certainly belies its length and epitomises Rosi's aim to make his audience more than just 'passive spectators'. Piero Piccioni has composed a haunting score and the cinematography of Pasqualino de Santis is breathtaking. Unlike so many Italian films it is not marred by the booming voices of post-synchronisation and the dubbing of the gallery of characters is expertly done.

Carlo Levi wrote that "the whole of life is a tragedy without a stage" but here Rosi does not lay it on with a trowel and this magnificent film becomes, despite the hardships it depicts, an affirmation of life.

Reviewed by jboothmillard 5 / 10

Christ Stopped at Eboli

I knew nothing about this Italian film until I found it in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, without this recommendation I would certainly not have watched it, directed by Francesco Rosi (Three Brothers (Tre Fratelli)). Based on the real-life memoir, Carlo Levi (A Fistful of Dollars' Gian Maria Volontè) is an intellectual, painter and writer, he also has a degree in medicine. He was arrested in 1935 by Mussolini's regime for his anti-fascist activities, and following his release he is forced into exile, and went to live in a small, isolated village in a remote town in Southern Italy, in the region of Lucania, known today as Basilicata. The landscape is beautiful, but the village is populated by poor and neglected inhabitants, barely surviving on the meagre harvest of the unyielding land. Eboli, the closest train station, is the last outpost of civilisation (such as it is), according to the local tales, even Christ, in his southward journey, went no further than Eboli, beyond that point there is only abandon, neglect, desolation and human despair. With local doctors not interested in peasants, and not trusted by them, Carlo begins to help the villagers in any way can, over time, he learns to appreciate the beauty and wisdom of the peasants, and to overcome his isolation. Also starring Paolo Bonacelli as Don Luigi Magalone, Alain Cuny as Barone Nicola Rotunno, Lea Massari as Luisa Levi, Irene Papas as Giulia Venere and François Simon as Don Traiella. The performance of Volontè is subtle but fine, there is not very much that happens in this film, and it is almost two and a half hours long, but perhaps that is the point, because the landscape is full of mostly misery, it certainly has memorable imagery, a fairly interesting drama. It won the BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film (the first foreign film in history to do so). Worth watching!

Reviewed by morrison-dylan-fan 7 / 10

Stopping At Eboli.

1997:

Checking some videos that my dad had recently brought,I spotted a double video of a wonderfully looking film.Opening the case,I was disappointed to find that the set only contained the second Video.

2014:

With having spent over 10 years trying to track a DVD/video version of the title,I decided to ask a DVD seller,who to my surprise revealed that he had recently gotten hold of the film! This led to me excitingly getting ready to finally pay a visit to Eboli.

View on the film:

Adapting Carlo Levi's (who would end up unsuccessfully running for the Senate as an independent communist in the 1963 elections)autobiography over a 200 minute running time (good to see they kept things short & sweet!) the screenplay by writer/ (along with Tonino Guerra and Raffaele La Capria)director Francesco Rosi disappointingly never fully expresses the passage of time that the movie attempts to cover,with the progression of Levi's relationship with the villages being one which progresses in sudden bursts,rather than a more gradual,natural pace.

Separating the 200 minutes as 4 TV episodes,the writers go into a superb amount of detail into the daily struggle that people in the south of Italy face,with every change in tax and the withdrawal of doctors that the government makes turning the village into a waste land which is on a completely different planet to the mighty Rome.

Creating a mysterious atmosphere,Rosi and cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis brilliantly use over-saturated colours to display the almost otherworldly landscape that Levi finds himself surrounded by,which is revealed in expertly handled wide-shots.As Levi starts to become friends with the village residences,Rosi heats up the colours into warm blues & yellows which show the warmth that has built up between Levi and the towns people.

Stealing every scene that he's in, Paolo Bonacelli gives a tremendous performance as fascist mayor Don Luigi Magalone,with Bonacelli giving Magalone a bumbling kick as he finds himself getting out smarted in every direction by Levi.Perfectly expressing Levi's initial uncomfortable feelings over stepping out of his comfort zone, Gian Maria Volonté gives a striking,subtle performance as Levi,with Gian Maria Volonté injecting Levi's voice with a real sense of gravitas,as he finds himself getting deeply involved with a community,from what was previously an unknown land.

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