The Legend of the Holy Drinker (Italian: La leggenda del santo bevitore) is a 1988 Italian film written and directed by Ermanno Olmi.
The film won the Golden Lion at the 45th Venice Film Festival.[1] It also won four David di Donatello Awards (for Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Editing) and two Silver Ribbons (for Best Director and Best Screenplay).[1] The film was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 61st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[2]
It is based on the 1939 novella of the same name by the Austrian novelist Joseph Roth.[3]
A drunken homeless man (Rutger Hauer) in Paris is lent 200 francs by a stranger as long as he promises to repay it to a local church when he can afford to; the film depicts the man's constant frustrations as he attempts to do so.