Review of Gianfranco Rosi’s ‘Below the Clouds’: A Haunting Cinematic Portrait of Naples Amidst Crisis

Gianfranco Rosi’s ‘Below the Clouds’ is a stark, black-and-white documentary exploring the troubled city of Naples, its ancient history, and its contemporary struggles with violence, war, and environmental disasters. Following his earlier works, this film completes a conceptual trilogy about Italy’s relationship with life and death, blending documentary scenes without narration to create a powerful mosaic of daily existence in Naples. The film addresses themes of war, the climate crisis, and societal collapse, as seen through archaeological digs, emergency service calls, and interviews with workers on a Ukrainian grain ship. Rosi captures the essence of a city overshadowed by its past catastrophes, such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and its ongoing modern struggles, including the impact of wildfires and earthquakes. With a monochrome aesthetic, Rosi paints a grim yet poignant image of Naples, a city preparing for its own metaphorical Pompeii fate, where beauty, art, and history are continuously being lost to time and human greed. The film is both a meditation on the transience of life and an indictment of modern-day crises, leaving a lasting impression on the viewer.