Pompei: Below the Clouds

2025 1h 54m IT

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 26

Documentary

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Naples faces dual volcanic threats from Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei. Amid increasing tremors, archaeologists work as residents live anxiously, haunted by Pompeii's fate while emergency services strain.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gianfranco Rosi
Writers: Gianfranco Rosi
Languages: Italian
Countries: Italy, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released last year.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

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International production across 2 countries: Italy, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Gianfranco Rosi, shot by Gianfranco Rosi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Daniel Blumberg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Fabrizio Federico shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

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IMDB entry: tt36874833 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 26 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gianfranco Rosi directs. Gianfranco Rosi behind the camera. Daniel Blumberg scores. Fabrizio Federico cuts. Produced in Italy, France. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released last year.
2International production across 2 countries: Italy, France.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Gianfranco Rosi, shot by Gianfranco Rosi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Daniel Blumberg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Fabrizio Federico shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7IMDB entry: tt36874833 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 26 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gianfranco Rosi
Original score: Daniel Blumberg
Editing: Fabrizio Federico
Sound: Stefano Grosso
Runtime: 114 min · 1h 54m
Status: Released
Box office: $130,652
Original language: IT
IMDB: Pompei: Below the Clouds (2025)

Awards

Special Jury Prize

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Gianfranco Rosi

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-03-27
★ 6/10
I shouldn’t have felt misled by the title of this rather dry and repetitive documentary, but I did. Instead of getting something archaeological and historical, I found myself watching something altogether more sociological and anthropic, and I must confess I wasn’t so very interested in that. With Mount Vesuvius making it’s presence felt nearby and with the tectonics beneath them suggesting a degree of planetary indigestion, the good folks of Naples are taking to their phones to ask their remarkably stoic and patience fire and police services whether or not events from the year 79 are about to repeat themselves. Some of these callers are borderline panic-stricken, some more rational but either way they are given polite and confident assurances that all is not going to come tumbling down any time soon. Intermittently, we do stray occasionally into the realms of the mosaic and explore a few of the world famous excavations or visit them in galleries, but as the entire film is presented in monochrome - and frequently during the night - it quickly ceases to be eerily effective and starts to become dingy and affecting. There may well be some beautiful photography here of some ancient and beautiful sights, but the complete lack of structure to this observation left me as rudderless as one of the triremes that got sunk by molten lava. The narrative is fairly all-encompassing and deals with just about every aspect of Neapolitan life, love, pollution, immigration, art and religion and it also clearly intends to draw parallels between the ancient and the contemporary but I don’t know, I just left me feeling a bit short-changed.
Brent Marchant2026-04-06
★ 4/10
Fewer cinematic experiences are more frustrating than movies that fail to live up to expectations. And, regrettably, such is the case with this latest documentary from writer-director Gianfranco Rosi. While the title and billing for this release lead one to believe that it’s a film about the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and the volcanic catastrophe that destroyed it, there’s surprisingly little in this title addressing those subjects squarely on point. Rather, it’s more of a minimalist cinematic essay that would be more aptly titled “A Day in the Life of Naples” (the metropolis neighboring the destroyed city), with end times underpinnings whose elements frequently go underexplained. Admittedly, “Below the Clouds” makes an effort (albeit somewhat underwhelmingly) to address the looming threat posed by Mt. Vesuvius, the monster volcano that obliterated Pompeii and that carries the potential to do the same to its vulnerable neighbor again today, but this is largely done in passing, almost as if the picture is downplaying the significant danger lurking not far away. Similarly, the film’s handling of what happened to Pompeii is somewhat underplayed, told largely through the eyes of investigators looking into the theft of antiquities stolen from buried volcanic tombs and the work of a team of Japanese archaeologists seeking to uncover hidden gems from the lost city’s past. Instead, greater emphasis is placed on comparatively irrelevant footage about everyday contemporary Neapolitan life, including stories of a Syrian freighter crew delivering Ukrainian grain to Naples, an antique store owner who runs an after-school study hall for grade school students and the emergency dispatchers manning the call center of the fire rescue service. However, the relevance of these narrative threads often seems tangential at best, trying to somehow tie them (and not especially successfully) to the aforementioned end times scenario. This ill-considered aim is furthered by various overwrought cinematic elements, such as clearly gorgeous but questionably chosen black-and-white cinematography and dialogue that sounds more “written” than spoken, devices that come across, frankly, as somewhat pretentious and off the mark in light of the subject matter. To its credit, “Below the Clouds” does a fine job in exploring how Naples has throughout history been a cross-roads locale richly influenced by an array of diverse cultures, much of which was lost in Pompeii’s destruction and the recent thievery of antiquities, a narrative thread that adds to the undercurrent of progressive decline that runs through the picture’s overall character. But that’s small comfort in the face of this offering’s other more prevalent shortcomings. While I’m certainly all in favor of pushing the envelope artistically, the attempt here to produce something cinematically poetic seems decidedly overdone, resulting in a tedious mélange of disjointed, unfocused themes and imagery that ultimately do more to bewilder viewers than to clarify the film’s designated intent.