Levi e il cinema: nuove acquisizioni

Abstract

Levi's relationship with cinema dates back to the 1930s, when he authored several set designs and film subjects. This experience gained more prominence following the publication and international success of Christ Stopped at Eboli. Plans for a film adaptation of the novel engaged Levi in a lengthy and complex dialogue with directors and producers, both Italian and foreign. This 30-year struggle concluded only after Levi's death, with Francesco Rosi's 1979 adaptation. This essay chronicles the efforts to adapt Levi's novel by examining a trove of unpublished material, including an early treatment of Christ by Levi and Rocco Scotellaro from 1949. An appendix to this essay includes a variation on this subject proposed by American producers but rejected by Levi, and a “Memoir for the Scriptwriters”, in which Levi offers previously undisclosed insights into the narrative, aesthetic, and ideological aspects of his masterpiece.