'Stromboli, Land of God' is a film from Roberto Rossellini, which chronicles the exploration of a woman regarding her place in the universe. It is the first collaboration between Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman, soon followed by their marriage. Made before ‘Journey to Italy’, the film is another film that represents the transitory period of Rossellini’s cinematic style. In a sense, ‘Stromboli’ follows a stricter approach to demonstrate the thought process of the director than ‘Journey to Italy’, where the final revelation felt more like a ‘wow’ moment for the audience. ‘Stromboli’ possessed a more streamlined structure, and the audience can effectively map out the mental landscape of the protagonist’s existence.
The story concerns Karin (Ingrid Bergman), as a foreigner in a foreign place. She was retained in an internment camp (the setting was after WWII) and eventually she found a chance to escape this ensnarement – by marrying an ex-POW who came from Stromboli, a volcanic island between Italy and Sicily. Yet does our white knight take the princess towards a happy life ever after? Unfortunately, that is not the case. Emerging from one hell only leads to the entrance of another one. Karin soon found the new home of Stromboli rather unwelcoming, as the locals there were surely skeptical and hostile towards this young foreign intruder. The geographical setting of Stromboli was also alienating for Karin. Shoring up her courage, Karin decided to stage another escape…
Rossellini, while trying to incorporate new though structure into his films, have never forgotten his cinematic origin. ‘Stromboli’ is a film where the physical landscape is as crucial to the plot as to the mental landscape of the characters. The film is shot impressively at location, and also features non-professional actors from the place. These features have provided an authenticity to the film, an attribute key to the Italian Neo-Realism best represented by the director.
The location Stromboli is not merely a convenience for the storyline. Evidently, the fact that Stromboli was a lively volcano served as a mise-en-scene for the emotions of humans – the sudden thrust of passion, fueled by the mysterious yet present drive from the Eros. On the other hand, the name Stromboli was derived from a Greek world stromgylos, meaning round. As a great word to describe the shape of the volcano, it is also symbolic for the metaphysical dimension of existence, from Presocratic philosophy to Stoicism. The well organized and enclosed world by the divine, and can be easily projected into the existence of individual humans.
When Bergman climbed up to Stromboli, she witnessed the eruption of the volcano at a very close distance. Nature, as a gift from the divine, demonstrated its power upon humanity. Individualistic as she is, Bergman finally could appreciate the vastness of the universe and how small she is in her surroundings. Emotionally perturbed, she wept and lost her composure as she is completely overwhelmed by such as transcendental experience. She prayed to God for the power of understanding and for the inspiration to guide through her existence. Her experience stroke a chord with the ideas of the poets of transcendentalism of the 18th to 19th century, such as Wordsworth and Coleridge, where the natural environment offered clues and insights about the transcendental power from the divine.
by Ed Law
23/9/2025
