This documentary is an exploration that accompanies the course of the river Po from its source on the Monviso all along across the vast plain. A look onto the river and the world surrounding its banks, cadenced by the words of St. John’s Gospel so as to evoke a parallelism between the waters’ revitalizing force and divine grace. Documentary-maker with the ability to comprehensively observe and describe the world. Devising the ecological gimmick of a journey along the longest Italian river with an unseen perspective, Olmi seizes with deep sensitivity the relation between man, nature and the supernatural.

Il regista / The Director

Ermanno Olmi (Bergamo, 1931) after the direction of some industrial short films commissioned by Edisonvolta, he debuts in 1958 with Il tempo si è fermato. Then he continued working for TV and cinema. His most important films include: L’albero degli zoccoli (1978), La leggenda del santo bevitore (1988) e Il mestiere della armi (2001).

Produzione / Production

Cinemaundici S.r.l., Rai Uno