Friday, December 12, 2008

Christ stopped in Matera - The Passion of the Christ. And Francesco Rosi's cinematic interpretation of Carlo Levi's politically charged 1945 novel,


View of Matera.
With its topographic similarity to Jerusalem, Matera has steadily attracted directors of biblical epics to its craggy landscape carved out of rocks. Located in Italy's southern Basilicata region, it was the setting for Bruce Beresford's King David (with Richard Gere in the title role) and Pier Paolo Pasolini's controversial The Gospel According to St. Matthew. More recently, Mel Gibson selected the jagged limestone plateau for The Passion of the Christ. And Francesco Rosi's cinematic interpretation of Carlo Levi's politically charged 1945 novel, Christ Stopped at Eboli (though not a religious-themed movie), was filmed in the book's once-poverty-stricken locale.





Sassi of Matera.

Matera, however, pre-dates Jesus Christ and even His Old Testament predecessors. The area is believed to be among the first human settlements in Italy going back to Paleolithic times when its earliest civilizations forged dwellings out of volcanic ash-based rock. These caves are called Sassi, where Matera's heart and soul continue to be sealed. They are stacked scenically one on top of the other like honeycombs. Yet there's a bleak side. These hovels, up until the first half of the 20th century, were places of unspeakable squalor. Large families lived with their livestock in cramped quarters minus plumbing and electricity. Today, many of these caves have been converted into stylish shops and restaurants - the result of a government effort begun in the 1950s and continuing through today, thanks to UNESCO designating the Sassi a World Heritage Site and film directors, such as Gibson, who have drawn attention to Matera. 


Matera's Castello Tramontano.

My husband Joe and I arrived in Matera on a sunny but chilly winter day. Our drive took us directly into the modern portion of the city - a district where Sassi inhabitants were relocated during government redevelopment in the 1950s. Of course, the Sassi harbor a lot more charm than the nondescript condo blocks of the new Matera. But those aesthetically bereft modern buildings also saved many lives.


After checking into the comfortable, family-run Piccolo Albergo on a flower-lined side street, we headed for the Art Deco Piazza Prefettura, with its gushing vertical fountain, palm trees and smooth black-marble monuments. It's not far from a synagogue and the Church of St. John the Baptist. In fact, Matera's history is one of varied faiths and cultures. It represents Italy's classic stratification of occupiers: Romans, Lombards, Normans and Aragonese, as well as the Benedictine and Greek-Orthodox orders.

We stepped into a crumbling arched structure to view the Sassi, an unsettling image of architectural ingenuity chiseled into a supernatural-looking terrain. Punctuated by the distant Cathedral of Matera, this heap of stones molded into living quarters reminded me of an inverted Positano. But instead of the Amalfi Coast's pastel-colored town facing the sea, Matera is a sepia-toned mass folded inland to cast an immovable, insular shadow across the scorched earth.


Turin-born writer-activist Carlo Levi is responsible for letting the world know about Matera's destitution. A staunch anti-Fascist, Levi was exiled to the Matera area (at the time, the region of Baslicata was called Lucania) in the 1930s. He chose for his novel the title Christ Stopped at Eboli in the sense that compassion, humanity and morality had stopped short of Matera. It was essentially the land time forgot. His book recounted the lack of food, healthcare and sanitation in this neglected southern region, which became a larger symbol for Italy's complex North-South frictions.


As I mentioned earlier, the efforts of the Italian government, UNESCO and humanitarian groups helped Matera survive. It's now a bustling contemporary city that has imaginatively reinvented itself. There are also a fair number of non-Sassi-related sights to visit. Joe and I stopped for a spinach-ricotta calzone and a glazed-raspberry tart in a bar off Piazza Prefettura. It was filled with schoolchildren (and their ubiquitous cartoon-emblazoned backpacks) and an unusually high number of German Shepherds (the dog of choice here). The testy gray-haired male barista, who wore a bright-red jacket, rapidly dealt plates, cups and saucers to the patrons - china flying all over the place as if the bar was possessed by the spirit of Lewis Carroll.


Our next stop would be the National Museum di Ridola. But at the center of a deadly intersection with several blind spots, we came face to face with a rotting skull. It and others decorated the doors of the medieval Chiesa del Purgatorio. Beneath an etching of skeletons dancing around weeping infants engulfed in flames, an inscription reassuringly read: "We are the miserable ones. Help us my friends."


Once inside, Joe and I were surprised to encounter a huge crown - like the one in the old Imperial Margarine commercials - suspended above the altar. More broken-toothed skulls jutted out above each holy-water font and Stations of the Cross. We didn't care to linger. Just after exiting, we found our spirits lifted by the sight of a hot-pink, Persian-style villa along a quiet cobblestone street. We arrived at the National Museum, founded in the late 19th century by doctor-senator-archaeologist Domenico Ridola.


Our elation soon turned to confusion when we found the entrance door chained shut on a day the museum was scheduled to be open. All of a sudden, the door flung open as if by a poltergeist. We didn't see anyone right away and cautiously ventured inside a pottery-strewn courtyard. Out of the shadows emerged a workman, who resembled Jack Nicholson around the time of The Shining. He was even grinning diabolically.


Was this some sort of trap? Actually, it turned out to be a delightful adventure. The man told us the museum was closed for restoration, but he was happy to show us around. He escorted us to artifacts excavated, beginning in the 1920s, from Basilicata and the surrounding Murgia plains. Then he vanished.


Joe and I had the entire museum to ourselves. The Neolithic rooms displayed stone tools and ceramics dating back 700,00 years. Other rooms exhibited Hellenic busts, jewelry and vases from the Magna-Grecia period. Our guide reappeared around the area of several dismembered Greek-deity statues, dog-shaped oil lamps and corroded bronze knives. He then showed us a new archaeological dig taking place in back of the museum - a strange merging of new artifacts being unearthed beneath the city's major repository for them.


We continued our wanderings past several churches built into rocks and secret passageways leading to nowhere. We passed children lugging tubas and cellos to a music conservatory in the car-cluttered Piazza Stidile, where the tuning of instruments followed us to an archway that opened onto what looked like part of Rome's Colosseum.


Matera is a living picture frame. Peek through a de-bricked wall for stacked mountainous vistas; an elevated arch crowns a medieval castle. More treacherous descents led us to the 13th century Cathedral of Matera, dedicated to patron saint Madonna della Bruna. Dusk was falling. So the Cathedral was awash in buttery-golden light. Side entrances guarded by gilded griffins evoked an opulent Middle Eastern allure. The rose-windowed façade was topped with elongated stones that had the color and texture of femur bones up close.


From here, we noticed a bloated gray castle in the distance.  Intrigued, we decided to backtrack in the direction of the bulging citadel - no matter that night was nearly upon us. We took a short cut around the corner of Chiesa del Purgatorio, where the skeletons looked more foreboding in the approaching darkness.


In a flash, we landed in a modern strip mall that fed into another rocky slope. The two of us trudged on, wondering how to access the deserted Castello Tramontano's entrance. We found ourselves waist-high in weeds. Could this be the same thorny foliage Prince Florimund hacked through to arrive at Sleeping Beauty's castle? Off to the side, a swing careened in a desolate playground. Ghosts seemed to push us along as the winds increased and snow began to fall.


We stepped on a dirty sign that advertised the fortress as a restaurant-banquet hall. But no one was celebrating tonight. We extricated ourselves from the gnarled shrubbery and realized this was not the most attractive castle. Its history is quite dour, too. Construction was begun under the orders of Giovanni Carlo Tramontano, Count of Matera. Only three of a few dozen towers were completed because of the Count's untimely death. Appointed to govern the city by King Ferdinand II of Aragon (the King of Naples), he was viewed by the citizens as an extravagant tyrant who imposed heavy taxes. The townspeople beat him to death as he and his wife left mass one cold December night in 1514.


On our way back, Joe decided to stop in an immaculate barber shop to get a haircut. We befriended the barber (a dapper man with shoe polish-black hair), who insisted on walking us to one of his favorite restaurants in the Sassi. The barber introduced us to the cook (there's a joke here somewhere), who seated us next to a roaring fire - literally inside a cave. Nearby, a lively children's birthday party was taking place. Our barber-friend wished us "a romantic evening" and scurried out into the increasing snow showers.


Against a catacomb backdrop, we sampled some of Matera's rustic and refined specialties: orrecchiette with rapini, barley and ceci soup, fried goat cheese, a medley of roasted vegetables, and the crowning glory: an enormous bubbling pignata - a type of pot pie filled with veal shank, root vegetables and potatoes all topped with a volcanic puff pastry. It reminded me of the Imperial Margarine crown in Chiesa del Purgatorio.


It was close to midnight when we left the cavern-restaurant. Around the Sassi, we felt like we zig-zagged our way into Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. An ominous fog hung over the Cathedral's bony bell tower.


Then snow began to fall again as we made our way to the busy Piazza Prefettura. The locals were stringing "Buone Feste" lights and others in the shapes of angels and Santa Claus across the streets. We joined a group of shoppers around the main fountain, where men hoisted a Christmas tree. We conversed and sipped hot chocolate. More people were setting up a life-size Nativity Scene. As Joe and I looked out at the Sassi (an image of Bethlehem seen on countless holiday cards), we felt like we had arrived in the Holy Land to celebrate the first Christmas. END

by Lucia Mauro, Italy Culture & Travel Examiner


  1. New COD4 playlists axed, no more DLC likely - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  2. Technology News: Gaming: PS3 Gamers Can Finally Go 'Home'
  3. Xbox Live Snow Globe lets you torture your friends - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  4. A second helping of Lips holiday DLC - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  5. N4G.com : Xbox 360 Owners Should Hope LittleBigPlanet Sells Well
  6. Playstation 3: NPD Figures Bring Out the PS3 Hate
  7. Flame on: PS3 a 'sinking ship' (PSP, too) - Joystiq
  8. Sony PS3 Home beta plagued with connection issues - SlashGear
  9. 360 increases lead over PS3 - Gears of War 2 for Xbox 360 News ...
  10. Xbox Live Snow Globe lets you torture your friends - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  11. A second helping of Lips holiday DLC - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  12. N4G.com : Xbox 360 Owners Should Hope LittleBigPlanet Sells Well
  13. Playstation 3: NPD Figures Bring Out the PS3 Hate
  14. Flame on: PS3 a 'sinking ship' (PSP, too) - Joystiq
  15. Sony PS3 Home beta plagued with connection issues - SlashGear
  16. Technology News: Gaming: PS3 Gamers Can Finally Go 'Home'
  17. 360 increases lead over PS3 - Gears of War 2 for Xbox 360 News ...
  18. Game On! Wii Sees Record Sales; Xbox, PS3, Not So Much (ChannelWeb)
  19. Wii Defies Recession as PS3 Plummets (Digital Trends)
  20. Playing video games 'improves brainpower of older people' (Daily Mail)
  21. Sales of video games sizzle amid retail sag (Denver Post)
  22. Gift guide: Table alternatives to video games (Boston Globe)
  23. Video games buck the economic trend (WFAA Dallas-Fort Worth)
  24. Gift guide: Table alternatives to video games (Miami Herald)
  25. Gift guide: Table alternatives to video games (San Francisco Chronicle)
  26. Gift guide: Table alternatives to video games (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
  27. Gift guide: Table alternatives to video games (AP via Yahoo! News)
  28. Game review: Resistance 2 for the PS3 (Guardian Unlimited)
  29. Sony (Finally) Lets Us Play In Home (Forbes)
  30. News: Xbox 360 attach rate grows to 8.1 titles - Xbox 360 ...
  31. Technology News: Gaming: PS3 Gamers Can Finally Go 'Home'
  32. 360 increases lead over PS3 - Gears of War 2 for Xbox 360 News ...
  33. Sony PS3 Home beta plagued with connection issues - SlashGear
  34. Europe a factor in Xbox 360 Tekken port | Gaming Industry | News ...
  35. N4G.com : Xbox 360 Owners Should Hope LittleBigPlanet Sells Well
  36. DS Game: Square Enix to Bring Chrono Trigger to Nintendo DS Early 2009 (PDA Buyer's G
  37. It's 'Game on!' for Nintendo Wii despite soft economy (Daily Record)
  38. Nintendo More than Doubles Wii Sales (PC Magazine)
  39. Despite Software Victory, Xbox 360 Attach Rate Remains Unchanged (Gamasutra)
  40. NPD: Sales growth continues for PS3 (MCV)
  41. Nintendo Rules America - Xbox Mauls PS3 (Spong)
  42. Product Review: Universal PS2 to PS3 Guitar Controller Adaptor (Blogcritics.org)
  43. "PS3 Home" (EuroGamer)
  44. Review: Last Remnant for Xbox 360 (Geek.com)
  45. It's On! Soulja Boy Tell'em Will Battle Our Video Game Editor On Xbox 360! (MTV Music
  46. Nintendo Wii sales hint video games still play well (USA Today)
  47. U.S. Wii sales topped 2 million in November: Nintendo (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
  48. "PS3 Home" (EuroGamer)
  49. Whole new world for PS3 users (Herald Sun)
  50. Video Games Awards, and Sneak Previews (New York Times)
  51. Video Games To Get Kids Reading (ABC News)
  52. Video games post $3B in November sales (Deseret Morning News)
  53. Video games could prove to be recession-proof (The Oklahoman)
  54. Video games now on loan at Iowa City library (The Gazette)
  55. Video games sales surge in US stores (Calcutta News)
  56. Do Video Games Cause Kids to Drop Out? (PC Magazine)
  57. November video game sales near $3 billion (AP via Yahoo! News)
  58. Nintendo's Wii Sales More Than Doubled Last Month (Update1) (Bloomberg)
  59. Nintendo sells 2 million Wiis in November (MSNBC)
  60. November NPD shows PS3 selling less than half than 360 [Update ...
  61. Sony: PS3 continues strong holiday momentum - VideoGamer.com
  62. Release date update: Lumines & Savage Moon - PS3 Fanboy
  63. Home servers now live; you can now go Home - PS3 Fanboy
  64. Sony PS3 Home Network Error: C-991 : Product Reviews Net
  65. Linux News: Gaming: PS3 Gamers Can Finally Go 'Home'
  66. N4G.com : The PS3 Will Prove Its Power In 2009
  67. Nintendo Rules America - Xbox Mauls PS3 - News (PS3/Xbox 360/Wii)
  68. Superfans: Xbox 360 Ultrafan Plays Inside a Furry Green Version of ...
  69. N4G.com : Xbox 360 version of TF2 set to get 'massive' update
  70. Nintendo Wii winning the game (San Francisco Chronicle)
  71. It's all about Nintendo as Wii, DS dominate November sales (Ars Technica)
  72. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Gloat (Spong)
  73. It's 'Game on!' for Nintendo Wii despite soft economy (Daily Record)
  74. Nintendo Slapped With Wiimote Strap Lawsuit Once Again (Slashdot)
  75. Xbox 360 attach rate grows to 8.1 titles // News
  76. Nov NPD: 360 wins big with Gears 2 and WaW - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  77. N4G.com : Xbox 360 version of TF2 set to get 'massive' update
  78. Zero Punctuation takes on Left 4 Dead - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  79. Superfans: Xbox 360 Ultrafan Plays Inside a Furry Green Version of ...
  80. Zero Punctuation takes on Left 4 Dead - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  81. Superfans: Xbox 360 Ultrafan Plays Inside a Furry Green Version of ...
  82. X3F TV -- Points>Life: Prince of Persia - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  83. Unreality - The Top 15 Xbox 360 Case Mods |
  84. Xbox 360 Sells 836K in Nov. | Edge Online
  85. Xbox 360 jasper in the wild - Hack a Day
  86. Superfans: Xbox 360 Ultrafan Plays Inside a Furry Green Version of ...
  87. Superfans: Xbox 360 Ultrafan Plays Inside a Furry Green Version of ...
  88. Video: Super Xbox Fanboy's dungeon of terror - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  89. EndWar Escalation Expansion ready to expand - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  90. Deal time: Snag Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for $26 - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  91. World Tour adds Euro and Nirvana DLC - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  92. Whole new world for PS3 users (Herald Sun)
  93. No Plans for Netflix on Sony PS3 (PC Magazine via Yahoo! News)
  94. More and more adults indulge in video games (KTAR 92.3 Phoenix)
  95. Sony launches PlayStation virtual community, but not courting new PS3 owners (Minneap
  96. "PS3 Home" (EuroGamer)
  97. "Bioshock GOTY Edition coming to PS3" (EuroGamer)
  98. Sony Opens Its PS3 'Home' for the Holidays (NewsFactor via Yahoo! News)
  99. Xbox 360 Ultrafan Plays Inside a Furry Green Version of an Xbox 360 [Superfans] (Gizm
  100. How To Buy the Cool-Running Xbox 360 'Jasper' [Xbox 360] (Gizmodo)
  101. Valve stops L4D Xbox 360 cheaters News (EuroGamer)
  102. Sony opens beta for PS3 Home virtual world (PC Advisor)
  103. PS3 Gamers Can Finally Go 'Home' (LinuxInsider.com)
  104. PS3 Virtual World Finally Finally 'Here' (Wired News)
  105. (AFX UK Focus) 2008-12-10 08:25 Sony to launch PS3 virtual community on Dec 11 (Inter
  106. Playing Video Games May Boost Older Brains (HealthDay via Yahoo! News)
  107. Top Ten Video Games to Give for the Holidays (NBC Dallas Fort Worth)
  108. They're popular, but watch out for video games that dish out disrespect and degradati
  109. Backgammon Masters Casino Adds Single Deck Blackjack and Video Poker Games (PR Newswi
  110. The rise, fall, and rise again of originality in video games (Geek.com)
  111. Video games grow up (The Christian Science Monitor)
  112. Survey finds over half of adults play video games (San Jose Mercury News)
  113. Video games make killing even in bleak season - Feature (EARTHtimes.org)
  114. Video games whip up the joy (stick) of cooking (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
  115. Xbox 360 tops teen's Xmas most wanted (MCV)
  116. Three Years On, Xbox 360 Slowly Gaining in Japan (PC World via Yahoo! News)
  117. Xbox 360 Jasper found in Stores and dissected (I4U)
  118. Nintendo clarifies EUK debt (MCV)
  119. Video - Xbox 360 Room - Xbox 360 , Gaming
  120. New FFXIII & Versus XIII images from Cloud, including gameplay ...
  121. PlayStation Home beta gets pushed out to PS3 owners worldwide ...
  122. PlayStation.Blog » echochrome PS3 Update Today: Trophies and User ...
  123. Today's echochrome patch brings Trophies and new levels - PS3 Fanboy
  124. N4G.com : PS3 Owners Want the 360's GTA IV Content Most Of All
  125. After Countless Delays, Sony Launches Home For PS3 : dBTechno
  126. PS3 News: Why Twisted Metal PS3 Is Important
  127. Home servers will be up 'early PM' GMT with open beta - PS3 Fanboy
  128. Can the iPhone beat the DS in the handheld gaming war? (CNET)
  129. Nintendo Bets on Recipe to Turn Gamers Into Gourmands (Fox News)
  130. Nintendo To Start Publishing Ebooks On the DS (Slashdot)
  131. Inside an Xbox 360 Jasper: Ben Heck dissects the mythical console, then tells you how
  132. Left 4 Dead Update Stops Xbox 360 Cheats (Voodoo Extreme)
  133. Risen To Rise On Xbox 360 (Voodoo Extreme)
  134. Uh-Oh: Nintendo Wii Shortages Looming, Again (PC Magazine via Yahoo! News)
  135. Nintendo Unsure of Wii Availability for the Holidays (PC World)
  136. PROTOTYPE Xbox 360 Screenshots (GameInfoWire)
  137. Nintendo to Help With Dragon Quest Promotion in U.S.? (1up.com)
  138. The man behind Nintendo's boom (Stuff)
  139. Nintendo Wii + Games and remotes (Jersey Insight)
  140. Wiis "Might not be on that shelf much longer" Says Nintendo Exec (1up.com)
  141. Rumor: Gears 3 and five player co-op in 2010 - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  142. Meteos Wars Review (Xbox 360)
  143. Xbox 360 tops teen's Xmas most wanted | Gaming Industry | News by MCV
  144. Xbox 360: How To Buy the Cool-Running Xbox 360 'Jasper'
  145. Video - Xbox 360 Room - Xbox 360 , Gaming
  146. Habbo teens want Xbox 360 for Christmas // News
  147. Netflix Streaming Battlemodo: TiVo vs. Xbox 360
  148. Joyswag Holidaze: Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360) & Turtle Beach Ear Force ...
  149. Lips Karaoke Game For Xbox 360: Hardware and Media Import Review
  150. Hacking NetFlix : Xbox 360 Has 30000 Titles, Including Netflix's 12000
  151. CrunchGear » Archive » Review: Xbox 360 VGA HD AV cable, Viewsonic ...
  152. Free Resistance stuff on the PSN Store tomorrow - PS3 Fanboy
  153. Soulja Boy game coming to Xbox 360 in 2009 - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  154. Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead hacked - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  155. Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage DLC unveiled - Xbox 360 Fanboy
  156. N4G.com : PS3 Fanboy-Upcoming Home content shown at London media day
  157. N4G.com : First-party PS3 games slashed to half price
  158. Quick match and party features added in SOCOM patch 1.30 - PS3 Fanboy
  159. Uncharted 2 Pushes PS3 to its Limit? - News (PS3)
  160. LittleBigPlanet and PAIN getting free Xmas-themed costumes - PS3 ...
  161. The PS3's Online World, Home | PSFK
  162. N4G.com : Killzone 2: Multiplatform? Apparantly Game Informer ...
  163. Xbox outsells PS3 2:1 while PS3 has better exclusive lineup ...
  164. Microsoft trash talks PS3 Home - PS3 Home for PS3 News ...
  165. Inside an Xbox 360 Jasper: Ben Heck dissects the mythical console ...

No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

MP3 Clips

Popular Posts