The film "Pompeii. Eros and Myth," featuring the voice of Isabella Rossellini

Pompeii. Eros and Myth, a film directed by the multifaceted Pappi Corsicato, comes to theaters only on Nov. 9, 10 and 11.

Produced by Sky, Ballandi and Nexo Digital, in collaboration and with the scientific contribution of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and with the participation of MANN, National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Pompeii. Eros and Myth is a journey intended to guide the viewer back two thousand years in time. The myths and characters that helped make immortal the archaeological site thatUNESCO has included in its list of World Heritage Sites are laid bare. From the love story between Bacchus and Ariadne in the famous Villa of the Mysteries to the ambiguous relationship between Leda and the Swan, from the gladiatorial fights to the desperate search for immortality of Poppaea Sabina (Emperor Nero’s second wife), the docu-film will also stage and analyze the city’s lesser-known and more secret sides. The same ones that in the 18th century led the Catholic Church to hide some of the most scandalous and scabrous finds recovered during excavations.

Leading viewers through the streets of Pompeii will be an exceptional narrator: the award-winning Isabella Rossellini. Her presence and voice will accompany viewers on a journey that will show how myths and found works have captivated and influenced artists such as Pablo Picasso and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Also enriching the journey between history and art are the reenactments of the myths in a contemporary key conceived by Pappi Corsicato: Bacchus, Ariadne, Theseus, Leda, just to name a few, wear modern clothes and are suspended in a time that belongs to both the past and the present, to show how Pompeii’s legacy is still a continuous source of artistic inspiration today.

The original soundtrack for the docu-film, to be released by Nexo Digital/Sony Masterworks on Nov. 6, is by composer and pianist Remo Anzovino, who has been trying his hand at telling the world’s art in music for years now, so much so that he was awarded a Special Mention at the 2019 Silver Ribbon Awards for original film scores.

It was 1748 when King Charles III of Bourbon promoted the first official excavations in Pompeii following the first findings from nearby Herculaneum. It was from that time that details of the catastrophe of 79 A.D., the year in which Mount Vesuvius buried entire cities, including Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the entire surrounding area, began to emerge with increasing clarity. In the course of Pompeii’s excavations, treasures, statues, frescoes, mosaics, relics of everyday life, as well as villas and private dwellings were uncovered that even today tell us about the life of a lively city, with gardens, fountains and impressive decorative displays. It will be along these ancient streets and thanks to the works preserved at the MANN - National Archaeological Museum of Naples, that we will get to know the life of the inhabitants of Pompeii before the eruption. Special attention will be paid to the Secret Cabinet of the MANN, established by the Bourbons to guard the most “scandalous” and explicitly erotic finds.

The stories that the film explores are those of men and women whose concrete traces remain with us because when the very high temperature pyroclastic flow that swept through Pompeii caused their instantaneous death by thermal shock, the bodies of the victims remained in the position they were in, leaving their imprint after decomposition. Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, just over a hundred casts were made from these footprints, inspiring poets and artists, including Roberto Rossellini himself, who dedicated a famous scene in Viaggio in Italia to the discovery of some of the casts.

Speakers in the film include those of Massimo Osanna, Director General of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii; Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Professor Emeritus of Classical Studies, University of Cambridge; Catharine Edwards, Professor of Classical Studies and Ancient History-Birkbeck, University of London; Darius Arya, Director American Institute for Roman Culture; and Ellen O’Gorman, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, University of Bristol.

For all information you can visit the official Nexo Digital website.

The film "Pompeii. Eros and Myth," featuring the voice of Isabella Rossellini

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