Cztery odyseje Ermanno Olmiego

Abstrakt

This essay is dedicated to Ermanno Olmi’s oeuvre. Miller analyzes four of his feature films (The Job, The Engagement, Long Live the Lady! and The Legend of the Holy Drinker), pointing out that the main motif that connects them is travel. It could be considered literally (all main characters of Olmi’s films are emigrants) or in a metaphorical way – as a psychological journey. Miller concludes her essay with the analysis of The Legend of the Holy Drinker. According to her, this movie sums up Olmi’s views on life regarded as travel from birth to the “earthly death” – here the homo viator figure is replaced by homo peregrinus. Therefore, it could be claimed that Olmi’s cinema focuses on “coming back home” scheme, which enables the protagonists to sustain their self-identities.