By José Alberto Hermosillo
AFI FEST REVIEW: “Pompei: Below the Clouds” is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking, a complex and poetic masterpiece.
Gianfranco Rosi’s acclaimed documentary skillfully weaves together the narratives of archaeologists, law enforcement, teachers in bookstores, traffickers, the underground preservationist and the black market with the engaged community of Naples, Italy.
According to Mr. Rosi, “Naples is a complex city that reflects on what it is, what it was, and what it will be.”
When chance becomes a necessity. People usually go about their daily lives—unless a tremor strikes from nearby Vesuvius or the active Capri Flegrei volcanoes. Then the emergency services, police, and fire department work together to meet the community’s needs and bring calm, whether by phone or in person, by addressing people’s anxiety as humanely as possible. It is always a precarious situation when people feel the need to connect out of fear.
In the Neapolitan universe, the centuries-old ancient city of Pompeii plays an important role in the lives of residents in the area. The greed of the Gomorra mafia, which controls the town’s economy, allows it to steal priceless Roman sculptures and break them into dozens of pieces that are hard to restore and easy to smuggle out of the country.
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As this exquisite and somber black-and-white multilinear story unfolds, locals, tourists, educators in a bookshop helping kids with homework, worshippers, Japanese archaeological workers, and students meticulously excavate in the fields, resurfacing statues, fragments, and ruins. Then, Ukrainian and Syrian sailors delivering grain in enormous barrels create a moment of trust, something close to Babel’s tower, in analytical thinking.
The volcano destroyed the city of Pompei, yet it also preserved part of its history. The award-winning documentary was part of the Official Selection at the Venice Film Festival, La Biennale 2025, where it earned the Environmentalist Award and a special mention for Mr. Rosi for the Treatment of Issues Related to the Social Environment.
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| Gianfranco Rosi. Photo by José Alberto Hermosillo, FestivalinLA |
At the AFI FEST 2025 Q&A, the accomplished Gianfranco Rosi (“In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis,” “Notturno,” “Fire at Sea”) explains that he often begins filming without knowing where the story will take him - the narrative unfolds from the locations, the people, and all the other possible scenarios.
He chose a monochromatic palette to enhance the narrative’s poetic quality, an element that seamlessly bridges the present and the past. I agree that this choice gives the documentary a timeless look.
His filmmaking style is more observational and presents reality poetically, often called cinéma vérité. The problem, he says, is that he does not believe in the genre in which everyone performs on camera. Gianfranco Rosi believes that cinéma vérité is “a manipulation of reality shown to the viewer,” and he does not want to be contaminated by those ideas or to have his work labeled or placed in boxes. This is completely fair for an experienced filmmaker at his level who does everything himself, giving him full control over his work and, above all, freedom of expression.
The old movie theater shown in the documentary is falling apart and is located near the ancient port of Pompei, a few kilometers from Naples, beneath the volcano. The owners let him use the theater for his project. There, he found clips and projected them onto the big screen. For him, film is also considered an archaeological find, evoking memories of the many movies made in the city.
While attending NYU Film School, Gianfranco initiated a project focused on retirees in Miami. During that period, a colleague suggested creating a documentary in Naples. Following that advice, he spent three years producing “Below the Clouds” in that Italian region.
Born in Asmara, Eritrea, to Italian parents, he lived in Turkey and Italy before attending college in the United States. In the field,
Gianfranco Rosi operates autonomously, occasionally collaborating with an assistant to form a formidable team.
The work he does with his editor, the consultant, and the producer is incredible. It is a metaphorical transformation of reality that elevates “Pompei: Below the Clouds” to a heightened sense of universality.
In most of his films, he follows five to six storylines. In his latest project set in the Port of Napoli, he has 10 shorts intertwined, raising the complexity of “Below the Clouds” to a higher standard of difficulty and, at the same time, creativity.
The Italian documentary is comparable to a musical score, with elements of silence. Find the right moment to leave everything in suspense and then cut, like the combinations of the Rubik’s Cube. He likes to leave everything as a mystery for the audience to interpret.
The collaboration with Academy Award-winning composer Daniel Blumberg (“Brutalists” and “The Testament of Ann Lee”) was close and productive. They worked together for two weeks in his London studio, recording with the saxophone and other instruments that gave his work an atmospheric touch of nostalgia and melancholy.
The only thing Gianfranco believes is on the frame and the person, cinematically speaking. For someone watching the documentary, it will feel like floating, with compelling camerawork and fantastic music, suspended in time, immersed in the Neapolitan community that preserves its past and modern-day existence.
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| Gianfranco Rosi & critic José Alberto Hermosillo, FestivalinLA |
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