One of the masterpieces of modern cinema, adapted from Carlo Levi's autobiographical experiences when exiled by the Fascists for 2 years in the 30s to an arid and poverty stricken south Italian village, a place so desolate that even Christ stopped short of going there. Here Levi learns to understand the national character which he finds amusing, irritating and sympathetic, impoverished and exploited. but with a magical imagination. Here the man as writer, as doctor and as painter is transformed by his experiences. A truly masterly period piece.