Gianfranco Rosi, who picked up the Venice Golden Lion 2013 with “Sacro Gra”, is back on the Lido with “under the clouds”. It is a personal exploration passionate about Naples and its suburbs which are under the volcano of Vesuvius.
Shot in black and white, “under the clouds” crosses between different characters and situations. This is in particular a teacher who manages a parasion school of fortune, a standard operator of the fire service which calms the fears of the inhabitants while the soil is shaking because of the continuous “seismic swarms”, an official of the police who tries to find the thieves of old tombs and the sailors on a ship unloading a Ukrainian grain near Naples just as the port of Odessa is bombed.
“In all the characters I chose, there is a spirit of civil resistance,” explains Rosi, who spent three years traveling the field with his camera. For this, he thanks his producer Donatella Palermo, because “no other producer would give me the means to stay for three years in one place, giving me fully confidence”.
Below, Rosi speaks with Variety About the choices he made for “Under the Clouds”, from the title of the film, which is inspired by the quote from Jean Cocteau: “Le Vesuve makes all the clouds of the world”.
What attracted you to Naples and what was your approach to represent this field?
I went to Naples as a tourist, and from the first time, I always felt that there was a special time there. It gave me an excellent opportunity to experiment with a new approach. I have always had the impression that Naples is this large off -screen space, suspended between what it is and what it could be. It was a huge challenge for me, in addition to the fact that I felt like I was in this huge machine in time. The Cirmurveuviana – a network of train lines coming out of Naples around Vesuvius – is like a huge follow -up shot that passes through space and history and creates this idea of suspended time.
The film begins with Footag archiving, of Roberto Rossellini’s “Journey to Italy”, projected in an old dilapidated cinema. Tell me about this choice.
I found this cinema abandoned and asked permission to enter. And then I filmed it and I realized that all my archive images had to be projected there. It seemed to me to be an archaeological site – the theme of archeology in the film is quite recurring in my film. It echoed the stories that are buried, the walls of the walls, the broken seats, the destroyed screen. And then I made a few choices in terms of what to screen. Of course, I projected Rossellini because he is my favorite director. Even before going to Naples, I thought of the part of “Journey to Italy” when they go to Pompei.
How did you choose the film’s protagonists?
This is where time comes into play. When I arrived in Naples, I did not know who would be the people of the film. Since the start, I decided to make a film from the other side “of Naples, on the Sarno valley where all the archaeological sites are located. The first person I met when I had my camera with me was the prosecutor. I went to Pompei to film there and he had a conference on tombs. I really liked it, so I introduced myself and I told him that I would like to film it. He is a very busy guy, always moving with bodyguards. He was therefore the first person I met and the last person I filmed. But in all the characters I chose, there is this spirit of civil resistance. It is civilization. As Margaret Mead said, civilization began when each of us does something for someone else.
I have the impression that, compared to your other films, it is a more personal and intimate work – a kind of flow of consciousness. Is this the case?
Yes, this is probably true, but what is important is that the public will find the same element of freedom by watching the film. My other films had more than one starting point and an arrival point. And there was always a political thing or a social drama in the context. There was always something you had to follow. Here I did not have this element. I think each spectator will connect with this film according to their own culture and their own curiosity. It is open to many different interpretations.
Tell me about the editing process.
Unlike my previous films, we started working on the edition since the very beginning of filming. It was a constant process of rewriting, because for me, that’s what publishing is. The fact that we have published from the start gave the film a very precise structure.
Why did you shoot in black and white?
It was a fundamental choice. When I found Jean Cocteau’s quote that “Vesuvius makes all the clouds in the world”, I thought it was an extraordinary image. I always film with clouds because they protect me from nuances, contrast. This led me to the title and appearance of the film. Below the clouds, there are no shadows. I had to learn to perceive the world around me, through the shades of black and white. It is not an aesthetic choice, it is a narrative choice.
Tell me about your collaboration with Daniel Blumberg (winner of the Oscar 2025 for the best original score for “The Brutalist”, especially in the final scene.
His work is in eight or nine scenes of the film. I have known Daniel for 14 years and I have always loved the way he experiences music. At first, I only wanted to put music at the end. I tried all kinds of things that did not work. So I went to London and spent 10 days with him. At the beginning, we tried to isolate the final scene, but the more we were talking, I felt that he could work on different parts of the film. I said to him, “I want it to be a sound landscape, not a score.” He works with this incredible Saxos player, but I wanted a sound where the instrument became unrecognizable. So when we were in his apartment, he said: “Let’s see how it sounds underwater.” We went to its bathtub and put underwater microphones in its bathtub. So this sax has become this incredible transformed sound. From this, we started to put this sound landscape in different scenes.
Speaking of the incredible submarine final scene, involving Roman fish and artefacts, where and how did you turn this?
We turned it to Baia, in the Gulf of Naples (known as “Sub-Marin Pomper”). We have filmed with a team because I am unable to go underwater. It was very difficult. The underwater shot is generally portable, but I didn’t want it. So I said: “Let’s put the camera there in the same place and see what’s going on. Just a stable blow.” It’s a single blow. It was a big challenge, because nothing was happening in this context. Then someone moved the sand below, and what was discovered, with the moving sand, was incredible!
This interview was published and condensed for more clarity.
“Below the clouds.”
Venice film festival with kind permission
