Christ Stopped at Eboli (film)

1979 Italian film

23 February 1979 (1979-02-23)

Running time

150 minutes (1979 theatrical release)
220 minutes (uncut TV version)CountriesItaly
FranceLanguageItalianBox office$82,126^[1]^[2]

Christ Stopped at Eboli (Italian: Cristo si è fermato a Eboli), also known as Eboli in the United States,^[3] is a 1979 drama film directed by Francesco Rosi, adapted from the book of the same name by Carlo Levi. It stars Gian Maria Volonté as Levi, a political dissident under Fascism who was exiled in the Basilicata region in Southern Italy.

The film was shown out of competition at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival^[4] and was the first to receive a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1983.^[5]

It was included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.^[6]

Plot

Carlo Levi is a painter and writer from Turin. He also has a degree in medicine but has never practised it. Arrested in 1935 by Mussolini's regime for anti-fascist activities, he is confined to Aliano (Gagliano in the novel), a remote town in the region of Lucania, the southern 'instep' of Italy, known today as Basilicata. While the landscape is beautiful, the peasantry are impoverished and mismanaged. They are superstitious and insular; many have emigrated to the United States in search of employment. Since the local doctors are not interested in treating peasants, Levi begins to minister to their health in response to their appeals, establishing a strong relationship with the community.

Principal cast

Gian Maria Volonté as Carlo Levi
Paolo Bonacelli as Don Luigi Magalone
Alain Cuny as Baron Nicola Rotunno
Lea Massari as Luisa Levi
Irene Papas as Giulia Venere
François Simon as Don Traiella
Antonio Allocca as Don Cosimino

Production

The film was mostly shot in Basilicata in the villages of Craco, Guardia Perticara, Aliano and La Martella, near Matera. Other scenes were filmed in Gravina in Puglia and Santeramo in Colle, Apulia.^[7]

Reception

Critical response

Christ Stopped at Eboli has an approval rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews and an average rating of 8.10/10.^[8] AllMovie rated the film 4 stars out 5.^[9]

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Year	Ref
Chicago International Film Festival	Best Feature	Francesco Rosi	Nominated	1979	^[10]
David di Donatello	Best Film		Won	1979	^[11]
David di Donatello	Best Director	Francesco Rosi	Won	1979	^[11]
Nastro d'Argento	Best Supporting Actress	Lea Massari	Won	1979	^[12]
Moscow International Film Festival	Golden Prize	Francesco Rosi	Won	1979	^[13]
National Board of Review	Top Foreign Film		Won	1980	^[14]
French Syndicate of Cinema Critics	Best Foreign Film	Francesco Rosi	Won	1981	^[15]
BAFTA Awards	Best Foreign Language Film	Francesco Rosi	Won	1983	^[5]

References

^ "Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
^ "Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979)". The Numbers. IMDb. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
^ John Anderson (April 26, 2019). "A short history of 'Christ Stopped at Eboli': A 'holy grail' of classic Italian cinema". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Christ Stopped at Eboli". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
^ ^a ^b "Film Foreign Language Film in 1983". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
^ "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die". filmsquish.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
^ "Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli". Italy for Movies (in Italian). Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
^ "Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
^ "Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979)". AllMovie. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
^ "Chicago International Film Festival 1979". mubi.com. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "David di Donatello". daviddidonatello.it (in Italian). Retrieved May 20, 2019.
^ "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli - Premi e Nomination". movieplayer.it (in Italian). Retrieved May 20, 2019.
^ "11th Moscow International Film Festival (1979)". moscowfilmfestival.ru. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ "1980 Award Winners". nationalboardofreview.org. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
^ "Liste des prix du meilleur film étranger depuis 1967". archives.semainedelacritique.com (in French). Retrieved May 20, 2019.

External links

Christ Stopped at Eboli at IMDb
Christ Stopped at Eboli at AllMovie
Christ Stopped at Eboli: Memories of Exile an essay by Alexander Stille at the Criterion Collection

Films directed by Francesco Rosi

La sfida (1958)
The Magliari (1959)
Salvatore Giuliano (1962)
Hands over the City (1963)
The Moment of Truth (1965)
More Than a Miracle (1967)
Many Wars Ago (1970)
The Mattei Affair (1972)
Lucky Luciano (1973)
Illustrious Corpses (1976)
Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979)
Three Brothers (1981)
Carmen (1984)
Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1987)
The Palermo Connection (1990)
The Truce (1997)

Awards for Christ Stopped at Eboli

BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language

Best Foreign
Language Film
1982–1987

Christ Stopped at Eboli (1982)
Danton (1983)
Carmen (1984)
Colonel Redl (1985)
Ran (1986)
The Sacrifice (1987)

Best Film Not in the
English Language
1988–present

Babette's Feast (1988)
Life and Nothing But (1989)
Cinema Paradiso (1990)
The Nasty Girl (1991)
Raise the Red Lantern (1992)
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
To Live (1994)
Il Postino: The Postman (1995)
Ridicule (1996)
The Apartment (1997)
Central Station (1998)
All About My Mother (1999)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Amores perros (2001)
Talk to Her (2002)
In This World (2003)
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
The Lives of Others (2007)
I've Loved You So Long (2008)
A Prophet (2009)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2010)
The Skin I Live In (2011)
Amour (2012)
The Great Beauty (2013)
Ida (2014)
Wild Tales (2015)
Son of Saul (2016)
The Handmaiden (2017)
Roma (2018)
Parasite (2019)
Another Round (2020)
Drive My Car (2021)
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
The Zone of Interest (2023)

David di Donatello Award for Best Film

1970–2000

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion / Metello (1970)
The Conformist / The Garden of the Finzi-Continis / Waterloo (1971)
This Kind of Love / The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1972)
Alfredo, Alfredo / Ludwig (1973)
Amarcord / Bread and Chocolate (1974)
Conversation Piece / The Murri Affair (1975)
Illustrious Corpses (1976)
An Average Little Man / The Desert of the Tartars (1977)
In the Name of the Pope King / Il prefetto di ferro (1978)
Christ Stopped at Eboli / To Forget Venice / The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1979)
I'm Starting from Three (1981)
Talcum Powder (1982)
The Night of the Shooting Stars (1983)
And the Ship Sails On / Le Bal (1984)
Carmen (1985)
Let's Hope It's a Girl (1986)
The Family (1987)
The Last Emperor (1988)
The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1989)
Open Doors (1990)
Mediterraneo / Towards Evening (1991)
The Stolen Children (1992)
The Great Pumpkin (1993)
Caro diario (1994)
La scuola (1995)
August Vacation (1996)
The Truce (1997)
Life Is Beautiful (1998)
Fuori Dal Mondo (1999)
Bread and Tulips (2000)

2001–present

The Son's Room (2001)
The Profession of Arms (2002)
Facing Windows (2003)
The Best of Youth (2004)
The Consequences of Love (2005)
The Caiman (2006)
The Unknown Woman (2007)
The Girl by the Lake (2008)
Gomorrah (2009)
The Man Who Will Come (2010)
We Believed (2011)
Caesar Must Die (2012)
The Best Offer (2013)
Human Capital (2014)
Black Souls (2015)
Perfect Strangers (2016)
Like Crazy (2017)
Love and Bullets (2018)
Dogman (2019)
The Traitor (2020)
Hidden Away (2021)
The Hand of God (2022)
The Eight Mountains (2023)
Io capitano (2024)

v t e Moscow International Film Festival Main Award
1959–1967 Grand Prix	Fate of a Man (1959) The Naked Island – Clear Skies (1961) 8+1⁄2 (1963) War and Peace – Twenty Hours (1965) The Journalist – Father (1967)
1969–1987 Golden Prize	Lucía – Serafino – We'll Live Till Monday (1969) Confessions of a Police Captain – Live Today, Die Tomorrow! – The White Bird Marked with Black (1971) That Sweet Word: Liberty! – Affection (1973) The Promised Land – Dersu Uzala – We All Loved Each Other So Much (1975) The Fifth Seal – El puente – Mimino (1977) Christ Stopped at Eboli – Siete días de enero – Camera Buff (1979) O Homem que Virou Suco – The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone – Teheran 43 (1981) Amok – Alsino and the Condor – Vassa (1983) Come and See – A Soldier's Story – The Descent of the Nine (1985) Intervista (1987)
1989–present Golden St. George	The Icicle Thief (1989) Spotted Dog Running at the Edge of the Sea (1991) Me Ivan, You Abraham (1993) (No award in 1995) Marvin's Room (1997) Will to Live (1999) Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (2000) The Believer (2001) Resurrection (2002) The End of a Mystery (2003) Our Own (2004) Dreaming of Space (2005) About Sara (2006) Travelling with Pets (2007) As Simple as That (2008) Pete on the Way to Heaven (2009) Hermano (2010) Las olas (2011) Junkhearts (2012) Particle (2013) My Man (2014) Losers (2015) Daughter (2016) Yuan Shang (2017) The Lord Eagle (2018) The Secret of A Leader (2019) A Siege Diary (2020) Dogpoopgirl (2021) No Prior Appointment (2022) Tres Hermanos (2023) Shame (2024)