In what he declared will be his last narrative feature, Olmi presents a sort of summary statement of his more than fifty-year career. Searching, deeply felt, and sure to be controversial, One Hundred Nails sets the director's humanistic Italian neorealism and a personal interpretation of Christian faith against both the distancing nature of religious orthodoxy and the value of book knowledge versus direct experience. A philosophy professor ditches his leather jacket and convertible BMW to live in an abandoned building and engage the world directly. His easy and rewarding bond with the local townsfolk (who razzingly call him Jesus) seems to suggest he's made the right move, but real-world difficulties and the repercussions of his crime soon encroach. The charming, largely nonprofessional cast and lovely location shooting further the case for the necessity and pleasure of escaping the library (or the film set) and getting out into the world-and simultaneously herald Olmi's avowed aim of hereafter focusing exclusively on documentary filmmaking.