In 1935, Carlo Levi (Gian Maria Volontè), a painter, writer, doctor, and political dissident, is exiled by the Fascist government to Gagliano, a desolate, impoverished town in southern Italy. Based on Levi's best-selling memoir, the film was cut in half for its 1980 U.S. release and this is the U.S. premiere of the complete, uncut version of Rosi's epic.