Christ Stopped at Eboli

Christ Stopped at Eboli (Italian: Cristo si è fermato a Eboli) is a memoir by Carlo Levi, published in 1945, giving an account of his exile from 1935-1936 to Grassano and Aliano, remote towns in southern Italy, in the region of Lucania which is known today as Basilicata. In the book he gives Aliano the invented name 'Gagliano'.

"The title of the book comes from an expression by the people of 'Gagliano' who say of themselves, 'Christ stopped short of here, at Eboli' which means, in effect, that they feel they have been bypassed by Christianity, by morality, by history itself—that they have somehow been excluded from the full human experience." Levi explained that Eboli, a location in the region of Campania to the west near the seacoast, is where the road and railway to Basilicata branched away from the coastal north-south routes.

Background

Carlo Levi was a doctor, writer and painter, a native of Turin. In 1935, Levi's anti-fascist beliefs and activism led to his banishment by Benito Mussolini's fascist government to a period of internal exile in a remote region of southern Italy. Despite his status as a political exile Levi was welcomed with open arms, for the people of this area were naturally gracious hosts. His book, Christ Stopped At Eboli, focuses on his year in the villages of the Lucania region and the people he encountered there.

Christ Stopped at Eboli (film)

Christ Stopped at Eboli (Italian: Cristo si è fermato a Eboli) is a 1979 film adaptation of the book of the same name by Carlo Levi. It was directed by Francesco Rosi and stars Gian Maria Volontè as Carlo Levi, with Paolo Bonacelli, Alain Cuny, Léa Massari, and Irene Papas.

The film won the Golden Prize at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival and was shown out of competition at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. The film received the first BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1983.

Plot

Carlo Levi was a painter and writer, but he also had a degree in medicine. Arrested in 1935 by Mussolini's regime for his anti-Fascist activities, he was sent to live in a remote town in southern Italy, in the region of Lucania which is known today as Basilicata. The landscape was beautiful, the peasantry poor and neglected. Since the local doctors were not interested in peasants and not trusted by them, he began to help them.

Cast

Eboli

Eboli is a town and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Salerno, on the south edge of the hills overlooking the valley of the Sele.

An agricultural centre, Eboli is known mainly for olive oil and for dairy products, among which the most renowned is the buffalo mozzarella from the area.

History

The archaeological excavations prove that the area of Eboli has been inhabited since the Copper and Bronze Ages, and also attested (from the 5th century BC) is the presence of the so-called Villanovan civilization.

The ancient Eburum was a Lucanian city, mentioned only by Pliny the Elder and in inscriptions, not far distant from the Campanian border. It lay above the Via Popilia, which followed the line taken by the modern railway. The Romans gave it the status of municipium.

The town was destroyed first by Alaric I in 410 AD, and then by the Saracens in the 9th and 10th centuries. Later it was a stronghold of the Principality of Salerno, with a massive castle built by Robert Guiscard.