Franco Battiato: Film and Exhibition in Rome
By Bettina Gracias
Discovering Battiato in Italy
It may be because I grew up in the UK that I had never heard of this fascinating musician until I saw Il Lungo Viaggio (The Long Journey), a biographical film about the singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, on a rainy afternoon in Frascati.
It is unusual for a weekday matinee anywhere to be full, so I was pleasantly surprised that I wouldn’t be watching this film on my own. I realized that this guy was loved and appreciated by Italians and wondered if the fact that I knew nothing about him reflected an ignorance on my part. I checked with a few music savvy British and American friends and confirmed that I was not alone. This made me ponder the fact that it is extremely difficult, no matter how brilliant, for a non-English singing, non-British or American band to receive worldwide fame.
An Artist Between Pop and Spirituality
He was interested in Sufism and brought the essence of the Whirling Dervish into his music with his song Centre of Gravity. He cleverly managed to balance Western pop with spirituality when he, very successfully, decided to go mainstream with his music in the 80s. Although his music only reached obscure fans in the UK and America, he was a hit in Spain and even released a Spanish version of his most iconic hit Centro di Gravita. His album La Voce del Padrone was the first to sell over a million copies in Italy.
Franco Battiato, born in Sicily in 1945, is a captivating character who initially experimented with electronic music and was seen as something of a pioneer. His life and art blended into one as he walked around town with a gas mask on to protest against the increasing pollution, industrialisation and anonymity of the modern world in the 70s. In the 80s he waltzed around the streets questioning people about whether they had ever thought about their purpose in life. He developed a highly watchable and unique deadpan style in his music videos which reminded me of a cross between David Bryne, Andy Warhol and Bob Dillion.
Retreat, Reflection and the Inner Search
Although his early search for meaning and practice of meditation reflects the interests of the era, with the Beatles taking lessons in India from the Maharishi and playing with Ravi Shankar, as far as I can tell, Battiato never followed the yellow brick road of drugtaking. He seemed to spend his life as a genuine seeker of something other than money and fame and gave up pop music at the height of his success, in the late 80s, to retire to his birthplace, Sicily, to meditate at sunrise and sunset facing the sea. The books lining his living room coffee table, which are shown in an exhibition about him at The Maxxi Centre in Rome, reflect an eclectic selection of writings from India, Tibet, China and the Arab World as well as Christian writings. Where for some the search for meaning was only a fad, for Battiato it became a true calling. “It makes no sense to live without direction, without being able to answer the fundamental question: Who am I? You only have two options, ignore it, or do something about it. I have chosen the second path.”
Film, Art and Legacy
Both the film Il Lungo Viaggio and the exhibition about Franco Battiato at the Maxxi Arts Centre in Rome, reveal an intriguing character who became something of a guru in Italy whilst remaining relatively unknown to the rest of the world. He was possibly something of a genius as he excelled in everything he turned his hand to. The exhibition holds some of his own beautiful artwork which reflect his interest in religion and spirituality, as well as a few portraits of people he knew.
He was also successful as a filmmaker with his semi-biographical feature film PerdutoAmor (Lost Love) in 2003 which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival, out of competition at his own request, and won him the Nastro d’Argento award for best new director. In 2005 he released a film Musikanten about the last years of Beethoven’s life.
I hope that the film and the exhibition will introduce this engaging artist to a wider audience. It is refreshing to come across a successful musician who managed to retain their own Centre of Gravity, remain true to themselves and not become a mere commodity without any control over their own lives.
“I’m just searching for a
Permanent centre of gravity
Within an overdose of information
In a world that spins around me
Over and Over again” (chorus of his most iconic hit)
Il Lungo Viaggio was released in Italy in February 2026. Directed by Renato De Maria, starring the excellent Dario Aita as Battiato.
Un’altra vita (Another Life), is an exhibition about the life, music and spirituality of Franco Battiato at the MAXXI Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome from January 31st to April 2026.
