The Library System “Monte Linas” and the Library of the Institute of Religious Sciences of San Gavino Monreale propose a screening of the 2007 film “7 km from Jerusalem,” directed by Claudio Malaponti. The film recounts the journey of an advertising executive (Luca Ward) to the Holy Land and his mystical encounter with Jesus Christ (Alessandro Etrusco). The film is based on the novel of the same name by Pino Farinotti and presents a discussion of issues affecting everyday life and how we understand the existence of God today.

PLOT

Alessandro Forte, a 43-year-old advertising executive, is in deep crisis. He's lost his job, he's unwell, and his wife has abandoned him, taking their daughter with her. For some unclear reason, he finds himself walking along the road from Jerusalem to the sea. Seven kilometers away, not far from Emmaus, a man wearing a robe and sandals approaches him and tells him he is Jesus. Alessandro thinks he's a street performer and tries to push him away. But the man insists, calling him by name, telling him he's "summoned" him, and showing off his knowledge of him. Alessandro, impressed but also frightened, demands proof of his divinity. Alessandro has many questions to ask, and the man has answers to give. And these are the questions and answers that billions of people have wanted, and would like, to ask and hear.

A film commentary by Father Antonio Pinna, co-director of the Institute of Religious Sciences of San Gavino Monreale, whom we sincerely thank for his availability:

 It goes without saying that this is not a review. The film's soundtrack is readily available on all specialized online sites, including the National Film Evaluation Commission of Italian Episcopal Conference (cnvf.it). What surprises me, especially given the library context in which this "afterword" was born, is how even the "pastoral" website of the expert trustees of the Italian bishops remains trapped in a literary genre: it covers all the obligatory points of a film review (info, plot without an ending, aesthetic judgment on the film's various components, final assessment), but everything is expressed in formulaic and extremely generic sentences.

I report in full the "pastoral evaluation" of the aforementioned Center:

«Director Malaponti says: "The film aims to be a reflection on the condition of Western man (...) starting from a secular premise, it traverses the Catholic-Christian religion in an attempt to raise awareness, a hope for a destiny that must be considered and recomposed." The intentions, while already seen and felt in many contexts, are therefore valid and encouraging. And it is true that the descriptive part, so to speak (i.e., the cases recounted) has undeniable connections to reality. What is lacking, in the end, is the ability to sustain the script from a dramatic-existential perspective. The pace almost always remains below the level of liveliness needed to maintain attention, and the direction doesn't go beyond a didactic illustration of the facts, which fails to get to the heart of the problems and reflections. In short, it takes effort to extract the message aimed at a 'new' vision of the world, to grasp the suffering and emotion often stifled by overly elementary images. From a pastoral perspective, therefore, the film should be considered acceptable and overall simple. USE: The film can be used in ordinary programming and on other occasions, keeping in mind the general modesty of the packaging.».

That's all. I challenge anyone to find anything concretely useful from a pastoral perspective.

My intention is certainly not to say, with a barely concealed sense of superiority that I've barely managed to express, "the message is aimed at a 'new' vision of the world." I'll simply highlight a few specific scenes, without playing the dogmatic film reviewer. I'll start with two quotes.

  • Without fear of spoiling the suspense, here is the final scene of the film: from an open porch, a stray dog ​​climbs onto the bed, looking just like the Viola the film tells. Faced with her parents' claims that it can't be the same Viola, the little girl is resolute: "Yes, she's dead. But she's back."
  • The advertising man in the film reminds one of his clients of the reasons he gave during a private conversation to justify his decision to remain faithful to his now paralyzed wife:

“I remember the words you said to me. That it wasn't just a matter of feelings, but of religion». He shook his head and smiled.

«The word was belief, Not religion».

"And what changes?"

"A lot, or maybe nothing. Anyway, I'm an atheist."

These two quotes seemed to me apt to highlight a common thread, some would call a "thesis," of the film and, even before that, of the novel of the same name on which it is based. For cinephiles, the name of the novel's author, Pino Farinotti, is certainly familiar: he is, in fact, the author of one of the first film dictionaries, «The Farinotti», precisely, as well as a text (From book to film, 2020), which collects the numerous articles he has published on the relationship between literature and cinema. It is not my intention to discuss the film in its relationship to the book; however, knowing that the film's outline comes from a profound connoisseur of cinema in general can help to understand both the importance of dialogue in the film and the fact that the protagonist is an advertising executive with expertise in "communications."

The first choice is therefore to place the figure of an advertiser at the center. This provides the opportunity, mentioned several times in the dialogues, to reflect on authenticity in communication. An advertiser is responsible for finding the best way to sell; he or she is not required to believe in the advertised product.

much less to purchase or consume it. And yet, little by little, especially with the episode of the fugitive graffiti artist Vilio (not shown in the film), it seems that precisely that "non-denominational" profession of advertising is permeating a new authenticity that makes (perhaps?) the two terms "religion" and "conviction" homonymous.

The second choice was to pair the advertiser in search of authenticity, at a time when his life has reached a point of total crisis, with the religious figure of Jesus himself. This character, "Jesus," who appears and disappears while in the Holy Land, as he had already done when recalling the Scriptures to the two disciples of Emmaus (hence the title), gradually reminds him of the key moments of his past and forces him to discover the meaning of each of these moments, or, perhaps better, their function in the whole of his life.

Among the events, those susceptible to different interpretations are favored, and not by chance. I recall only three.

  • Being hit by a cement mixer and emerging unscathed from the asphalt is an incredible feat, but it happened to him. Could it be just a coincidence that (at least in the film, not the novel) an envelope containing a pre-paid ticket to the Holy Land was returned to him on that occasion?
  • A woman, robbed of her purse, falls to the ground, hitting her head on the pavement. Her shoulders, neck, and head are clearly off-center, and a doctor, who has rushed over among the onlookers, thinks she's dead. However, the spontaneous gestures of the advertising executive, defying the doctor's repeated assurances that he knows when someone is dead, awaken the woman, who gets up as if nothing has happened. "I've never seen anything like it," he says. "Unbelievable, again, but it happened."
  • A young woman with a complicated history is about to lose her baby, who, during intrauterine movements, has knotted the umbilical cord. It's impossible for the knot to unravel during his natural movements. Incredible, yet...

Things happen, it's often repeated in the film. How can we understand their meaning? Will it be the same for everyone? Perhaps not, "Jesus" also says toward the end of the film: "As always, some will believe you, others will not."

Perhaps then the right answer, according to the novel and the film, is that what is true, authentic, transforms your life.

Significant in this regard is the moment of the passage to the friar hitchhiking on the road to Emmaus. Climbing into the jeep, he greets the man, "The Lord be with you." But when he sees the passenger next to the driver, resembling a Jesus straight out of a Renaissance painting, he stops the car and gets out. "You scared him," the advertiser says, turning to the "Jesus."

P.S.1 Please note that the film's landscape, shot in Syria, has nothing to do with the places it depicts. Obviously, it's not a "historical" film. Nor can it be called a science fiction novel. Poetry? Only in a few happier moments. Fairy tale, then? Why not? We more easily allow a fairy tale to catch us off guard. Because reality is what we "convincingly" experience and understand. Usually, later. The meaning of a story, like a life, is understood only at the end. But, precisely, the question of the ending is the only one that remains unanswered, in the film as in the story.

On other questions typical of religious daily life, "the Jesus" of the film allows himself to joke:

– “Be patient, there’s one last thing.”

"Tell me".

"...the end of the world, weeping Madonnas, the blood of San Gennaro, the stigmata... stuff like that... knowing I spoke to you, everyone will want to know your revelations. What do I say?"

“Say you didn’t ask me.”

Here is something that the very general and dogmatic pastoral evaluation of the bishops forgot to say: that often the most recurring questions are the useless ones, and the most important ones are ignored.

PS2 Encouraged by the success of the novel, translated into several languages ​​(but for the publisher Paoline producing translations of its own novels is certainly not a problem), as well as convinced by positive opinions of ecclesiastical personalities (Ratzinger, Ravasi, Alberoni are mentioned), the publishing house commissioned a sort of sequel" with some "external" suggestions, which the author says also became "internal" after a couple he met by chance confided in him that they had overcome the mourning for the death of their child by reading "7 km from Jerusalem". The new novel is titled "And the angel departed from her».

This time a lady named Maria (but it will be that?) comes to the aid of a couple struggling, especially with cancer in their eight-year-old son. While the aim of the two novels was to suggest discovering a "different" possibility of meaning in everyday events, in the second novel the scenes are much more of ordinary life, without the "miraculous" interventions of the first novel, which unfortunately sometimes become almost vaudeville-esque in the film (see the appearance of the dead mother, which, admittedly, ultimately doesn't satisfy the protagonist, even though he had asked for her to be dead, and which in the novel "Jesus" is very reluctant to grant, and indeed doesn't grant immediately, as happens in the film).

P.S.3 Finally, it remains a little surprising how Catholic personalities such as Ratzinger or Ravasi only needed a text open to an "other" possibility of meaning, beyond pure rationalism, to express practically unconditional support for the novel (cf. Ravasi, Sunday edition of Il Sole-24 Ore, March 27, 2005), completely ignoring the rather “relativistic” aspects involved in wanting to equate “belief” and “religion.” An aspect, however, completely absent from the second novel.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Don Antonio Pinna

 Official Trailer

ANTEPRIMA

The beginning

Interview with the director

 

Watch the full movie on YouTube

 

Watch the full film on Rai Cinema.it

MORE

 

CURIOSITY

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Pino Farinotti.

It was recognized as a film of national cultural interest and received support from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.

In one scene, Jesus drinks Coca-Cola, considered a symbol of the contemporary age: Coca-Cola Italy initially asked for the scene to be cut, but later changed its mind and agreed to use the famous brand in the film.

Part of the filming took place in Syria, in places that had previously been forbidden to film crews, such as the airport, and where no Westerner had filmed..

CAST

Luca Ward (Alessandro Forte)

Alexander the Etruscan (Jesus)

Rosalinda Celentano (Sara)

Alessandro Haber (Angelo Profeti)

Eleonora Brigliadori (Marta Piano)

Emanuela Rossi (Ginevra Santi)

Isa Barzizza (Elvira Marenghi)

Alessandra Barzaghi (Martina Marenghi)

GALLERY

 

   

 

     

Anyone interested in borrowing the DVD can request it from the Library of the Institute of Religious Sciences of San Gavino Monreale at Via Diana 11 (tel. 0709339017).

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