A peasant, a dream, and the city that eats both alive.
Fontamara is a village in the Marsica, forgotten by all but God and its inhabitants are called 'cafoni' (boors). Berardo Viola wants to marry Elvira but only after gaining enough money to buy some land and in order to reach his aim he has the idea of going to a great city. When Maria Grazia is raped by the fascists, Berardo and Antonio decide to leave Fontamara and go to Rome. Here they are swindled by a lawyer and afterwards they are invited by an antifascist to a restaurant where they are arrested by the police because of some subversive papers they had.
Acting
Michele Placido's simmering desperation as Berardo.
Direction
Lizzani's unflinching lens on poverty and power.
Director
Carlo Lizzani
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Adapted from Ignazio Silone's 1933 novel, written in exile after Silone fled Italy's fascist regime. The Marsica region was historically neglected and earthquake-devastated.
Lizzani was a neo-realist veteran who'd fought in the Italian Resistance—this was personal, not political abstraction.
IT
