Basilicata is a beautiful, authenic land, rich of history. A land full of breathtaking views, whether they are seaside, mountains or towns with a charm that has not changed over time. It is therefore not surprising that, the region has often attracted the attention of many filmmakers, both Italian and international, which right here have found perfect sets for their films.
A tour of the cinematic Basilicata can only start from Matera: the city of Sassi, with its unique architecture and its charm suspended in time, has always been the favorite set of films that have made the history of cinema. Over the years, Matera has become Jerusalem several times. First for Pierpaolo Pasolini, who chose it as a set for his “The Gospel according to Matthew” in 1964 and then for Mel Gibson, who chose to set the colossal production of “The Passion of the Christ” in 2004 in the Lucanian city. Go visit the characteristic via Muro: it is here that Gibson chose to reproduce the Via Crucis, while Pasolini preferred via Lombardi for the same scene. And how can we forget the most recent film set in Matera, the last chapter of 007 released in 2021, “No time to Die”. In the film, the most famous secret agent in the world whizzes in front of the monastery of Sant’Agostino in Sasso Barisano, but also in Piazza Vittorio Veneto and in Piazza Sasso Caveoso. To feel like James Bond, go to the Madonna delle Vergini church, in the Murgia Park: it is here that the British cemetery for the scene of a spectacular explosion was created.
James Bond, aboard his legendary Aston Martin, also traveled a scenic road along the sea, between breathtaking views and sheer cliffs. Those sequences were shot in Maratea, the Pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea, another Lucanian location particularly loved by the cinema. Already in 1960 Dino Risi chose the beautiful seaside town for his film “With doors closed”, while more recently, in 2010, it became the scene of the adventures of “Basilicata coast to coast”, a popular comedy by Rocco Papaleo with Alessandro Gassmann. The walking trip of the four musician friends through Basilicata starts right at the foot of Christ the Redeemer, the majestic statue that stands out on the promontory above Maratea.
The itinerant journey takes the protagonists to Basilicata coast to coast trip crossing almost the entire region, and in particular to the two villages that are particularly dear to the world of cinema. The first is Aliano, the place of confinement of the writer Carlo Levi, where he set his novel “Christ stopped at Eboli”. Right here, with a glass of Aglianico del Vulture, the four toasted in honor of Gianmaria Volontè who, in 1979, played Carlo Levi in the film adapted from the novel and directed by Francesco Rosi. The second village where the protagonists meet is Craco, the most famous ghost town in the whole region. Rosi’s film was also shot in part in the abandoned medieval village, as well as some scenes from Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” (it is the place where Judas hangs himself) and some sequences from another 007, “Quantum of Solace” (2008).
From Craco it is worth moving to the north and reaching another location much loved by filmmakers, the Vulture Melfese area. In this rural landscape characterized by wheat fields and green hills, in 2003 Gabriele Salvatores set “I am not afraid”, a film based on the homonymous novel by Niccolò Ammaniti. Not only: as his protagonist the director have chosen a local: a young actor Giuseppe Cristiano, a native of Melfi. “It is a place of the soul” Salvatores had declared speaking of the Vulture. After visiting it, you can only agree with him.
e