Agostino di Ippona Synopsis & Summary

This late effort from Roberto Rossellini relates in dispassionate fashion the life story of the Bishop of Hippo, a North African region. Augustine, played here by Dary Berkani flourished during the last years of the Roman Empire. The film details Augustine's struggle to maintain religious decorum in a civilization on the verge of plunging into the Dark Ages. Originally titled Augustino Di Ippona, this was one of several austere filmed biographies made for Italian television by Rossellini, who cowrote the screenplay with Marcella Mariani, Luiciano Scaffa and Carlo Cremona. The two-hour film was released theatrically in the US by Entertainment Marketing. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide