Jay Rohr
Pompei: Below the Clouds paints a haunting portrait of the world in and around Naples, Italy. This visual time machine connects the past with the present, while showing how alien familiar places can seem. Cinematically stylized, perhaps to add some poetics, the documentary is as much story as it is facts. What that story is, however, remains largely up to the audience willing to engage with the material.
The whole feature is monochromatic. Entirely shot in black-and-white, Pompei: Below the Clouds feels antiquated yet contemporary. Elements have a dreamlike quality reminiscent of Lynchian films such as investigators descending from the modern city into tunnels used by tomb robbers to steal ancient artifacts. Meanwhile, Italy has rarely been recorded so colorlessly. The result is a certain cynicism combined with blunt crushing facts — it is what it is.
Director Gianfranco Rosi (Fire at Sea) puts together a quiet glimpse of fragments. Each sliver is part of a portrait. From a certain distance, this mosaic offers a view of the overall region in the Gulf of Naples. Up close, the different bits tell their own story, while implying connectivity with a greater whole. Essentially, Pompei: Below the Clouds is a look at the modern era in a place deeply rooted in the past. The right eyes can see where the human race has been as well as where it may be going.
That said, since the preceding centuries are inaccessible directly, ancient history is curiously depicted. The documentary does an interesting job of rarely giving a statement. Professional historians documenting relics recovered from Pompei explore artifacts as well as cultural similarities. They look at pieces such as a statuette depicting Lakshmi. Clearly of Indian origin, the fertility goddess shares certain commonalities with similar representations of Aphrodite. It just goes to show that societies share more in common than they may seem.
The audience is trusted to be intelligent enough to discern what is occurring in a scene simply by observing. For instance — not to spoil anything — some parts include spending time with public safety communicators for the fire department. These weary individuals deal with all kinds of calls from honest emergencies to cranks to those desperately in need of a listener. Then there are other segments involving archaeologists from the University of Tokyo.
There is a certain stylization that may give the impression of artifice rather than objective presentation. Though there is a truth to that, it may also remind a viewer that history is an artifice in and of itself. Facts may be definite, but their presentation can be manipulative. That’s to say the narrative of history is not the same as the historical facts defining it. This is a point quietly made by the stylization of Pompei: Below the Clouds — the past as well as the present is how we how we show it.
At the same time, there’s a sense of a contemporary relationship with history. Pompei: Below the Clouds will show smoking fumaroles then archaeologists digging up what Vesuvius buried before switching to seismologists recording earthquakes. Afterward, folks are calling the fire department in a panic, showing the audience how the present carries the shadow of the past.
While it’s wonderful to experience a poetic documentary that puts that kind of intellectual faith in its audience, I can’t shake the suspicion that the splendor of this presentation will be lost on the streamer generation. Pompei: Below the Clouds is not an easy watch one can observe with their brain turned off. It requires active engagement.
Fortunately, multi-award-winning director Gianfranco Rosi isn’t trying to trick anyone. The thematic depths of the film aren’t hidden. The documentary is never trying to confuse anyone. It simply requires a bit of extra effort that’s become woefully uncommon in cinema lately.
Pompei: Below the Clouds is self-aware in that respect. As such, the movie endeavors towards captivating stylization that feels closer to narrative film than documentary. It’s like a collection of vignettes, each adding in their own way to themes of history, multiculturalism, and the shape of a world composed of multiple facets. Throughout there is a penetrating impression of a familiar yet oddly alien world. Occasionally, the documentary cuts away to observe clips in the remains of a crumbling abandoned movie theater, but it never breaks the notion that it is offering evidence of ideas about existence.
The audience willing to take a chance will enjoy a spectacular poetic picture. The ghostly realm director Gianfranco Rosi has composed is as much a haunting dream as cynical reality. Pompei: Below the Clouds is a testament to human existence as something brief that can leave a lasting impression across time. More importantly, as the eruption of Vesuvius cemented in 79 BCE, people don’t always choose their place in history. Something Pompei: Below the Clouds makes plain.
