Basilicata: cinema in Matera and beyond

Matera has come a long way since the 1950s, when the Sassi quarters were little more than caves. Credit should also be given to those who recognised its poignant beauty and documented it: the first was Carlo Lizzani with his two documentaries, Viaggio al sud (1949) and Nel Mezzogiorno qualcosa è cambiato (1950), which recounted the city’s misery as well as its charm. Later, in 1964, Pier Paolo Pasolini developed an intellectual interest in Matera and the Sassi, where he set The Gospel According to Matthew. Pasolini found more Jerusalem in Matera than he did in the real one: the city in Basilicata was purer and more authentic, without any signs of modernity. Matera played the same role in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ in 2004. It is difficult to count the number of films for which Matera has served as a scenic backdrop, but who could forget the opening scenes of Tornatore’s The Star Maker or two instalments of the saga featuring the world’s most famous spy, Quantum of Solace from 2008 and No Time to Die from 2021. In the latest Bond film, two of the most spectacular scenes involve the church and convent of Sant’Agostino, in front of which James Bond speeds by in his car, and the church of Madonna delle Vergini, where the British cemetery has been rebuilt, the scene of an explosion.

Monte Vulture is a volcano with an unmistakable silhouette. A green, extinct cone, with a seven-peaked ridge. Surrounding it, volcanic soil and yellow hills of wheat, the Aglianico vineyards and a few villages form the territory of the Vulture-Melfese. This rural land, with its masserie and fields of ripe wheat, was the setting for I’m Not Scared, a film by Gabriele Salvatores based on the novel of the same name by Niccolò Ammaniti. Filming took place in the countryside around Leonessa (the tiny, fictional Acqua Traverse), Rapolla and Melfi, immediately recognisable for its skyline dominated by the imposing Castello with its ten towers and the bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. The town was an important bishopric and Norman royal residence: Frederick II of Swabia moved into the castle in the summer, which now houses the Massimo Pallottino National Archaeological Museum of Melfi.

Matera like Jerusalem, Barile like Bethlehem. In 1964, when Pier Paolo Pasolini filmed The Gospel According to Matthew, he set some of the film’s key scenes in Barile. Pasolini found these “poor, bare, unadorned places, not at all spectacular. Yet imbued with the sacred”. He was right. Barile has a strong connection with religion. Come during Holy Week, on Good Friday, for the solemn procession of the Mysteries, and you’ll witness a deeply devotional and poignant spectacle that blends symbolism with Albanian traditions. Barile is, in fact, a village of Arbëreshë (Italo-Albanian) origin, which preserves its customs and traditions, language and… wine cellars. These cellars were carved out of the tuff caves of Sheshë Hill by Albanian settlers who moved here in 1477 and now form the Parco Urbano delle Cantine (Urban Park of the Cellars). This is a truly unusual, fascinating and harsh landscape, which Pasolini used for the scenes of the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Massacre of the Innocents and the Flight into Egypt. 

In Craco, the Calanchi badlands and Aliano, remote places that feel like they’ve been abandoned by God, Francesco Rosi gathered the crew and actors for his film Christ Stopped at Eboli. The landscape of Rosi’s film, a cinematic adaptation of Carlo Levi’s literary work, is primitive and isolated. “Christ truly did stop at Eboli, where the road and the railway leave the coast of Salerno and the sea, and enter the desolate lands of Lucania. Christ never came this far, nor did time, nor the individual soul, nor hope, nor cause and effect, reason or history,” wrote Carlo Levi.

There’s a surreal atmosphere in Craco – a ghost town perched on a cliff, made up of a cascade of stone houses clinging to each other, narrow streets and steps, a Norman tower and a 12th-century castle. We continue through the harsh, lunar landscape of the Calanchi badlands before arriving at Aliano, Carlo Levi’s place of confinement, a village suspended in time and space.

On Basilicata’s short stretch of Tyrrhenian coastline (barely 30 kilometres long), lies Maratea. Along with a dozen hamlets, it spans the gap between Campania and Calabria amid a landscape of limestone cliffs, small coves and wide inlets, crevices and abundant Mediterranean scrub. Maratea is not only a seaside resort, but also a mountainous place with sweeping sea views. In Maratea, you’re always going uphill and downhill. The steep slopes and flights of steps in the old town will quickly get you accustomed to the vertical nature of the landscape, which is truly spectacular. The medieval town is best explored by wandering through the flower-filled alleyways lined with colourful houses, cobbled squares, churches and chapels featuring polychrome marble and majolica floors. The next challenge is to hike up to the statue of Christ the Redeemer: a 350-metre climb brings you to the foot of this 22-metre-high giant and the most spectacular views over the Gulf of Policastro. You can see why Maratea was chosen by Dino Risi for his 1961 film Behind Closed Doors, starring Anita Ekberg. It’s not the talented Risi’s best film, but nevertheless it was the first to be shot here in Maratea. In 2010, Rocco Papaleo, a Basilicata native, made his directorial debut with Basilicata Coast to Coast. The film tells the story of four musician friends who travel on foot from Maratea to Scanzano Jonico to take part in a music festival. As they make their way through the enchanting landscapes of Basilicata, their journey is filled with unexpected events and encounters.