The release of this complete version of the film based on Carlo Levi’s 1945 memoir of the same name is a very big event. Carlo Levi, an artist, doctor and political activist was exiled for his outspoken anti-Fascist writing. Originally produced as a four part series for Italian television by Rosi in 1979, it was shown in the United States in 1980 in a two hour film version. To see it all together in its original form is like binge-watching at just under four hours plus intermission. The story takes place in Italy in the mid-1930’s under Mussolini’s Fascist regime. The country is gearing up for the invasion of Ethiopia. Italy is in turmoil. There are massive emotional rallies in support of Il Duce, Fascist oppression, resistance groups being brutally punished for subversion, and the underclass is suffering. It is so immersive that I can honestly say that the entire theatre was completely in it’s thrall. There was not a twitch or even a cough in the audience. It is so visually rich that the leisurely pace feels perfect.

Every frame has so much to be savored that time ceases to matter. Decidedly not a biblical tale, the title refers to the remoteness of the film’s location, the southern town of Gagliano, many miles of bad road past the last train stop at Eboli. Legend has it that Christ traveling through Italy stopped at Eboli and went no further. Gagliano, a crumbling medieval city built on the crest of a rocky mountainous and barren landscape, is inhabited by desperately poor, ignorant, superstitious peasants, their goats, chickens and pigs. The only accoutrements of modernity in the town are a single porcelain toilet and one car. Apart from the farmers, residents include a drunken, disgraced priest, two quack doctors, a Fascist mayor, a few Fascist operatives, and ten political exiles. The implication is that this is Italy’s version of Siberia. This place feels very misbegotten.

Part one opens with Carlo Levi (Gian Maria Volontè) sitting in his studio in Turin surrounded by masses of paintings of peasants as he expresses his affection and nostalgia for “his peasants”. There is no condescension in his words. Then begins the story of his exile to Gagliano told with the poetic language of the author. On his trip he is adopted by a wonderful shaggy dog who has been abandoned and refuses to be left behind. When he finally arrives at Gagliano and sees the alien backwardness of his situation, he says to the dog: “I am here because I have to be. But you chose to be.” It looks like a bleak and lonely future.

In part two he begins to find his way into this strange exile, which allows him his freedom of movement within limits. His only restrictions are curfew and not fraternizing with the other exiles, which leaves him few logical options. He could not be more out of sync in this place, with his beautifully-tailored city clothes, courtly manners, tall frame and handsome face. When the villagers find out that he is a doctor they clamber for him to take care of them. He tries to explain that he has never practiced medicine. But they persist and he does as little as possible to help and refers them to the local practitioners, who they don’t trust and don’t like.

In part three his beautiful sister comes to visit from Turin. Also a doctor, but a practicing one, she sees the condition of the peasantry and chides him to not be so callous and goads him into helping them. Together they find a house for him to move into where he can paint and begin to have a life. He begins to administer to the villagers with the meagre resources available. The villagers don’t care that he has never practiced. He is better than the alternative.

By part four he is thoroughly embraced by the community, who are respectful and grateful. Although he is still surveilled, it is less obtrusive. Except that the mayor reads all of his letters and reminds him that some of his opinions and theories can get him into serious trouble with the authorities. Loyalties are tested when a health crisis arises and the mayor has to break his own protocols for the good of everyone and let Levi practice. He is a hero to them. And when he suddenly learns that he is free, it is with an unexpected sadness that he leaves the people of whom he has grown so fond. When he returns to his very comfortable life in Turin he finds himself oddly uncomfortable. He has learned to think like a peasant and he means it as a positive. He has changed, along with his worldview. His certainties are no longer so certain.

Curiously, the film touches on everything which is relevant today. Levi grapples with social contracts (Fascism, democracy, communism), culture, colonialism, classism, politics, corruption, religion, war and peace. The peasants can see clearly. But there will always be a ruling class. The question which those with the power have yet to answer is how to rule compassionately without oppression. Gagliano turns out to be a microcosm of Italy at the time and perhaps it again is for the tumultuous times we are living in now. All of the issues feel very urgent and familiar in our world today.

Francesco Rossi’s direction of the rhythms of the peasants on their way to and from the fields carrying their tools over their shoulders has a ravishing pageantry. Returning home bearing the fruits of their labor in gigantic bundles on their heads, is filmed with breathtaking cinematic lush gorgeousness. The handsome and charismatic Volontè is an irresistible and mesmerizing screen presence. The small role for the young Irene Pappas as Levi’s housekeeper is a surprise bonus. Rosi composes, frames and lights every scene as artfully as a painting. The result is a film that feels like an epic with the intimacy and ruefulness of an elegy. It is a richly rewarding experience.

You can watch a trailer for the film here