Over the past two nights I've been watching another tremendous film from Criterion : "Christ Stopped At Eboli"(1979), a four part, 220 minute adaptation of Carlo Levi's book that, like the Rossellini History Films, was made for Italian Television. Also, as with "Blaise Pascal" and Pensees, I knew of Levi's book beforehand because once again my Dad had a copy. It sat on the family bookshelf for years and I always wondered what the title meant. Was it a book about the travels of Jesus? No, Dad later explained. What Levi meant was that southern Italy, particularly the area at the sole of the "Boot", was so destitute that it was like a borderland over which the miracles and message of the Lord did not cross. Levi meant that once you passed Eboli and went further south, the towns were beyond hope. Furthermore, the authorities in Rome didn't care.
When I was in my 30s, Dad would occasionally mention the book and suggest I read it. His interest stemmed from his own experience in Naples and Sicily during the war, in which he observed the same abject poverty that Carlo Levi saw. This was very moving to Dad, and when Levi's book was published in 1945, he bought a copy and read it, and it became a favorite of his.
The story is a memoir of Levi's year in exile as a political prisoner of Fascist Italy. In 1935, he was arrested for having "subversive" political views. Instead of throwing him in jail, the authorities sent him to live in a remote mountaintop town called Matera (named "Gagliano" in the book & movie). The fascist leaders under Mussolini must not have been entirely ruthless, at least not yet, because in Germany he'd likely have been put in a concentration camp. In any case, when he gets there after a long bus ride, he is astonished to see the state of the town. It looks like the ruins of a thousand years ago. Google "Matera, Italy" and click on images to see for yourself.
Levi is resigned to his fate and does not complain. He is an intellectual, originally from Turin, who was trained as a physician but did not practice, preferring to paint and write. He is an observer of life who expresses himself through his art. Even in his politics he is not an agitator but just one making suggestions to the powers that be.
The town is a mixture of exiled prisoners and the peasants who have always lived there. They take immediately to Levi, who is kind in return and never condescending, though he is quietly amused by their many superstitions. The mayor of the town, a fascist underling who plays nice, also takes a liking to Levi, because he fancies himself a fellow man of culture. They talk about art and literature. The mayor quietly suggests he not read Montaigne (a proponent of the French Revolution), and he also censors Levi's letters to his sister, again using gentle persuasion. The mayor sees himself as an intellectual peer and talks to Levi as a "friend", and while he isn't evil (he doesn't persecute anyone), Levi nonetheless sees him for what he is, a halfhearted middleman who is just going along with Mussolini's program.
Once the townsfolk find out that Levi is a doctor, they start calling on him to treat their ailments. He protests that he's never actually been in practice, but it does no good. After he successfully treats a little girl's stomach ache, they see him as an angel of healing, and soon they are chanting in the town square for him to become the official doctor of Gagliano. This causes friction with the mayor, because Levi's sentence requires that he refrain from practicing medicine.
There are other storylines, one having to do with the local priest. "He's always drunk", the mayor complains, but then the priest delivers an anti-fascist sermon during Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and this sets off another ruckus among the townsfolk, some of who support Mussolini. The toady mayor is at his wits' end, trying to keep the peace and keep all thoughts and actions at a base level. He doesn't want trouble, only for things to continue as they always have, with the poor in their poverty, unquestioning. All of this is set against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, which is depicted only through radio broadcasts. Mussolini wants to make Italy great again, and reminds his listeners that Rome once had it's Legions, who ruled the world.
Carlo Levi takes all of this in during his time in Matera. Suddenly his three year sentence is commuted and he is set free. Back home, he contemplates what he has learned from his experience, and distills his observations into a treatise on wealth and poverty, nationalism vs. local pride and tradition. The people of southern Italy live in a different world than those of the north. They're basically living the same way as in pre-Christian times, which can also be inferred from the title of the book. The irony is that they've been forgotten about by Rome, and the very authorities who preach national unity under totalitarian rule.
"Christ Stopped At Eboli" makes it's points in a subtle manner. Gian Maria Volonte gives an expressive, knowing performance as Levi, who rides out his fate, accepting that he cannot defeat the aggression of those who seek power. Instead, he befriends the powerless and discovers his own strength in theirs. ////
It's a beautiful film, in the same vein as "The Tree of Wooden Clogs". See them both.
That's all I know for tonight. Stay safe and stay well. Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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