Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si è fermato a Eboli)

Many years have gone by, full of war...

...and of that which we used to call history.

Having wandered here and there...

so far I haven't been able to keep the promise made...

...in leaving them, to my peasants...

that I would go back to them.

And I really don't know if or when I'll be able to keep it.

But, shut up in a room, in a closed world,

I like to go back in my mind to that other world.

Imprisoned in its pain and customs,

oblivious of history and of the State,

eternally patient.

To that land, without comfort or gentleness,

where the peasant lives in poverty and isolation...

...in his immobile civilization...

...on a dry earth in the presence of death.

"I'm Barone. May whoever finds me take pity on me."

Go on, eat this egg, it's good for you.

Go on, eat it.

Don't you like it?

- Hey, whose is this dog? - May I keep the dog?

It's fine with me, but we'll have to ask the Podest...

- Yes... the dog is mine. - Keep him quiet, then!

You should put a muzzle on him.

At least put him on a leash.

I'm sorry to say this, but the dog should have a muzzle.

I don't want him to eat my chickens.

From now on he'll sit with me.

You keep him on a leash, or else!

Good morning! Hello!

- Are you comfortable? - Yes, we are.

Okay, let's go.

Christ stopped at Eboli.

Where the road and the train leave the coast,

and penetrate the sad lands of Lucania.

Christ never came here. Nor have time,

the individual spirit, hope, nor the tie between...

...cause and effect, reason or history.

No one has ever touched this land...

...if not as conqueror, as enemy...

...or incomprehending visitor.

The seasons flow over the toil of the peasants today,

as they did 3,000 years before Christ.

In this dark land, without sin and without redemption,

where evil is not a moral, but an earthly pain,

forever present in all things,

Christ never came.

Christ stopped at Eboli.

I'm the only one who has a car, here.

I bought it with the dollars that I earned in America.

I thought it was a bargain.

Instead, all I manage to do is a couple of trips a week,

to take the Podest to the prefecture in Matera.

How about the mail, here?

Have you seen who's in charge of it? A donkey!

See those stakes? They used to stick the heads of bandits...

on them. And they'd leave them there for a long time.

You can come whenever you want.

There, that's the municipal secretary, Sergeant.

Don Peppi', the Sergeant has something to say to you.

Goodbye, Sergeant.

Who should I give the order to?

The town hall, they'll stamp it.

I'm the municipal secretary.

Carlo Levi.

Is there a hotel, an inn?

No, but I can suggest a very comfortable situation...

...with a relative of mine. She cooks too.

All right, let's go.

- Which way? - That way.

Oh, the dog.

Barone! Oh, there he is.

He followed me. Come on!

I'd like to keep him, but I don't know whether it's possible.

I think so, but we'll have to ask the Podest. Now he's...

...teaching at the elementary school. Maybe tonight.

Wait here for me. I'll come and get you.

Mister Levi, come this way.

Come on in. Come in.

May I?

- Good day. - Good day.

I know everything, come with me. I'll show you your room.

- I'll see you at the town hall. - Thank you, very kind of you.

There, you may choose whichever bed you like best.

Thank you, madam, don't worry about me.

Madam, which way to the square?

Go straight and then turn right.

What are all those ribbons I've seen over the doors?

Here, when someone dies, we hang the ribbons...

...from the wreaths over the doorway,

and leave them there until they fall off.

Doctor Levi!

I'm Luigi Macalone, the Podest.

- Carlo Levi. - Welcome.

Here in town there are ten other internees,

but you're not allowed to speak to each other.

They're worthless people, lowly workers, nothing much.

They can't compare with you. You're clearly a gentleman.

Why did you get yourself interned?

Our country is becoming so great now.

In any case, you'll like it here. The climate is good, the air...

...healthy. There is a bit of malaria, but not much.

But you should be careful. There are lots of bad people.

Better not to befriend anyone.

That way you'll avoid any unpleasantness.

- Good evening. - Good evening.

You must respect the curfew, and I'm at your disposal.

Here everyone goes to bed at dusk,

and every day you must sign the internee register.

It's only a formality, but the people in Matera want us...

...to be scrupulous. So, we follow the rules.

That's don Traiela, the priest.

He's always drunk. A disgrace to our town. A desecration of...

...the house of God. We can't seem to get rid of him. But...

we'll manage to kick him out. He's been here for many years

as punishment. He taught in the seminary at Mondragone...

...or Naples. It seems he took certain liberties with his pupils.

You understand...

Luigi! Luigi!

Let me introduce my uncle, one of the local doctors of Galliano.

- Doctor Mirillo... doctor Levi. - Pleased to meet you.

You're a young man, a handsome young man.

- I wish I were a young man. - Of course you are.

In this town, you must beware mostly of the women. Don't...

...accept anything from them. Neither wine nor coffee.

Nothing to drink or eat. They'd certainly put a love-potion in it.

Do you want to know what they make the out of?

Menstrual blood.

I've heard that you too are a physician.

I'm a graduate in medicine, but I've never practiced.

I'm no doctor.

In any case, the peasants, here, don't listen to us.

They never call us and they never pay. They'll get theirs.

Today, one of those who hadn't called us, died.

It serves him right. They are stubborn as mules.

We give them quinine, and they don't take it.

There's no hope. And their malaria, naturally, kills them.

Doctor Levi, I'll leave you to it.

Listen, I'd like to ask you...

...if I can keep a dog. - A dog?

Sure, why not? Goodbye.

There's Sergeant Pugliese.

He's the midwife's lover.

I was told he was the lover of the pretty Sicilian mafiosa.

The one who sings all the time. - Oh really?

- Yes. - Good.

He's been here 3 yars.

They say he's already saved up 40,000 lire,

taking advantage of his authority over the peasants.

10 lire at a time.

The mail! Here's the mail!

The mail is here!

Dinner's ready.

He was my husband. He died 3 yars ago, of an ugly death.

They put the evil eye on him.

But why? Who put the evil eye on him?

A peasant witch! He had another woman.

A child was born of this union. My husband wanted...

...to leave her, but she gave him a magic potion...

...that made him turn black all over, until he died.

- A peasant witch? - That lowly hussy,

that whore who ruined my house!

Now I have to support a 10 years old son who studies in Potenza.

All he left me was this weight on my shoulders!

- Who is it? - Don Peppi', open up!

- Good evening. - Good evening.

It's cold and wet enough to kill you!

My bones are all clattering together with the cold.

Virgin Mary!

Sit down in front of the fire.

- Good evening, zia Carmela. - Good evening.

- Good evening. - Good evening.

- May I sit down? - Please do.

- What are you eating? - Some soup.

I'll have some too, because I haven't eaten since last night.

I'm starving.

What do those two letters on your hat mean? U.E.?

They stand for "Ufficiale Esattoriale", tax collector.

I always curse the man who sewed these letters on my hat.

Nobody, here, wants to pay taxes. Nobody.

Their excuse is that we're all so poor, but...

...they all have a pig hanging under the cellar roof.

Sausages, headcheese, stuffed pig's stomach...

They have everything. At my house, instead,

I have to make do with some bread and cheese.

Would you like some wine? Could we have another glass?

Thank you.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

Perhaps the taxes are high.

They're what they are. I'm not the one who get the money.

I only make them pay.

What do they want from us?

So you go, and take whatever there is.

Whatever they have, I take.

They have no furniture. They have a bed,

but beds, by law, can't be taken away.

- What do they give you then? - Whatever they have.

For instance, if they have a goat, I take it.

A rabbit, I take that too.

If someone has a whole cheese, I take it.