Francesco Rosi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli is the director’s faithful adaptation of Carlo Levi’s book of the same name in which the political dissident chronicles his banishment to the Italian south during the years of fascism during the mid-thirties. The title comes from the local belief that “Christ stopped short of here, at Eboli,” suggesting that because of the remoteness of the area, even Christianity passed it by. 

Gian Maria Volonté portrays the main protagonist with dry sobriety, and the movies quiet preoccupations are with the everyday activities of the townspeople; taking its time dwelling on the pulses of rural life. Showcasing a population abandoned by country, and rather than rambling too densely into politics, the movie invests its focus on the language of cinema.

Smells like Fellini spirit...

Rosi's take on the great novel/autobiography is a beautiful nothing of a movie.

On the plus side, the photography its pretty much the standout from the rest. Pasqualino De Santis shots the movie almost as a documentary rather than a feature film, with director Francesco Rosi choosing to focusd on the people's lives. It reminded me a lot to Bertolucci's The Conformist and Fellini's Amarcord.

Sadly, for someone that didn't know anythinng about Carlo and the film itself, it takes a long while to actually build a plot or at least explain what's going on, therefore you feel pretty much lost and confused throughout most of the movie.

Nevertheless, this is one of those underrated classics from Italian cinema that everyone MUST give it a watch.

If one wanted to do a survey of key Italian films of the late seventies they might want to put together a triple bill featuring the Taviani Brothers Padre Padrone, Ermanno Olmi‘s The Tree of Wooden Clogs and Francesco Rosi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli. Upon completion of this trifecta of all that is the hardscrabble life of the peasantry such ambitious cinephile might logically declare “masterpieces!”; but may also be forgiven for putting their head in an oven.

Masterful entry in the "Italian Historical Realism" cycle, 1930s version of the rural earth-tone Italy, under-nourished and clinically depressed, of Don't Torture A Duckling and The Demon (and a dozen others), here given a Bertolucci-flavored treatment. Lushly austere, graceful, seemingly effortless, moving...

Note: this was the short version. There's more??!!

"توقّف المسيح عند إيبولي"

تعبير استخدمه الفلّاحون في قرية إيبولي جنوب إيطاليا ليوضّحوا كمّ خذلانهم و ظروفهم المقفره و حياتهم البائسه و فقرهم المقبع حتى أن المسيح أو المسيحية و الأخلاق و التاريخ  قد تخلّوا عنهم و ولوهم ظهورهم كما فعلت الحياه. 

نُفي الطبيب كارلو ليفي إلى إيبولي إبان فترة تفشي الفاشية في إيطاليا بسبب آرائه السياسيه، فكأنما تتم معاقبته بمناصفة هؤلاء الفلاحين المكلومين حياة شقائهم و وجوههم المتبلّمه و حدادهم الدائم. 

استند هذا الفيلم إلى روايه عن مذكّرات كارلو التي سرد فيها تلك الفترة التي عاش و عاشر فيها الفلاحين و تعلّم الكثير و فهم الكثير و ما زاد يقينه إلا يقيناً و آرائه رسخاً. 

هذا الفيلم ذكرني كثيراً بفيلم "The Tree of Wooden Clogs" حيث ارتكز الفيلمان على تصوير حياة الفلاحين بشقائها و غثائها و بساطتها و تعقيدات القدر التي يضعها في طريق كل من هؤلاء الكادحين. 
و التذكير الدائم بأن المرء لن يفهم مأساة غيره إلا عندما يعيشها.

Speechless... I better see every one of you MFs add this to yo watchlist RN

christ stopped at eboli and so did my heart. a film of such harsh yet evocative beauty, a memory of a place so real that the soul of the man who touched it could not escape it's pull. would work well as a companion piece with heaven & earth from michael pilz.

What war films don’t talk about when they talk about war.

This is how you make Poorlitical cinema!

L'individuo è il luogo di tutti i rapporti.

Beautiful and complicated, an immersive portrait of a world forgotten by history, even as it’s being made. It’s quite dry, and the lack of substantial drama makes it a long watch. But it’s also well-pitched with strong production values, and I can’t imagine cutting anything from it as was done for its initial release. A worthy rescue for sure.

Speechless... I better see every one of you MFs add this to yo watchlist RN

Watched this over the last two days. What can I say, I really like anti-Fascist Italian movies.

In adapting Carlo Levi's memoir about his time as a political prisoner in fascist Italy, Francesco Rosi tells the entire story from Levi's perspective. He completely submerges his audience into this world - a village so remote and forgotten that its residents believe Jesus Christ didn't bother visiting on his way through Italy - and patiently develops an understanding of their lives, customs, and beliefs in tandem with Levi's own realizations about what he's experiencing. So much beauty and warmth stems from this unadorned observational style, from the foreboding opening sequence where Levi is slowly taken into the village to Levi's powerful interactions with individuals whose determination and beliefs help him to shape a new worldview. Gian Maria Volonte's performance is superb.

christ stopped at eboli and so did my heart. a film of such harsh yet evocative beauty, a memory of a place so real that the soul of the man who touched it could not escape it's pull. would work well as a companion piece with heaven & earth from michael pilz.

a man put into exile and learning lessons he might never have is one of the oldest stories in the book, but man is it powerful. i wonder if this would be better to watch in 4 parts, as it was created as a mini series. but all the same it was remarkable. i love to see a character transform so clearly and towards justice. i would hope that more people from the modern bourgeois have such a radical change (without going thru such exile, let’s speed this shit up)

It took me a bit to get through it, but I didn't really have a problem with the lengthy version of the film (also presented in four parts). Gian Maria Volonté plays the lead character very well, acting as audience surrogate in many instances as we witness surrounding events through his eyes and emotions. I was quite intrigued by the politics of the film, specifically with how remote southern Italy was depicted and the impact of Rome's governance on them. A great directorial pseudo-culmination from Francesco Rosi and I'm curious to see other works from him.