Pompei: Below the Clouds

allain♡

idk why but calling the fire department just to ask the time is so italian coded

Milesware2.5

The film seems assured that the sheer poetry of its imagery and larger motifs can do most of the heavy lifting, and to some extent, it does: a loose profile of sort to a Naples below all the cloud and dust, between past and present, but the film has perhaps placed a bit too much trust in its materials to sustain engagement for its near two hour runtime. It's for the most part beautifully shot, but when it cuts back to the woman in the museum storeroom paraphrasing "these statues are suspended in time" for the sixth time, patience becomes a rare commodity. 5/10.In theater, followed by Q&A w/ Gianfranco Rosi.

MUBI

Past and present, flesh and ash, enormity and the infinitesimal: Gianfranco Rosi’s astonishing, Venice-prizewinning documentary is a marbled study in high contrast. In bone white and velvety black, pin-sharp chiaroscuro photography screens an active volcano for the elemental geometries of life.Now streaming exclusively HERE in many countries. A MUBI Release.