I'm Not Scared
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Movie Reviews of I'm Not Scared
Movie Review: A Triumphant Achievement! This is a Brilliant Film!
Summary: 5 Stars
IO NON HO PAURA (I'M NOT SCARED) is a radiant film by director Gabriele Salvatores based on the novel by Niccolò Ammaniti (who also wrote the screenplay) that quietly puts the premise 'greater love hath no man than he lay down etc' into the desperately gentle innocence of children. The impact is overwhelmingly beautiful: this film is destined to become one of the most memorable greats in the catalogues of ardent film lovers.
The setting is Southern Italy, 1978, and with the sweeping cinematography of Italo Petriccione we are set in motion with the vista of golden wheat fields where a group of children are traveling toward a secret old house. Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) is with his young sister Maria (Giulia Matturo) and in their speed to reach the destination her glasses are broken and Michele pockets them, promising to tape them to avoid their mother's wrath. Once the children reach the abandoned old ruin of a house, games ensue, one fat girl is informed that she has lost the game and must display herself to the boys as punishment. Michele prevents this from happening by taking responsibility and is made to climb into the scary old house and jump out. Michele succeeds and the children mount their bikes to return home to their tiny village. On the way home Michele discovers he has lost his sister's glasses so he returns by himself to the house, sees the glasses atop an odd tin piece hidden by straw. Michele lifts the tin and discovers a deep hole that contains a body covered with a filthy blanket with only a foot in view. Terrified, Michele flees and returns home with his sister.
At night Michele's curiosity wins and he sneaks out of his house to return to the old house. There he slowly discovers that the roofed hole contains a living person who begs for water, then food. Over the next few days Michele finds that the hole person is a young boy his age, and though filthy and frightened the young lad Filippo (Mattia Di Pierro) grows to depend on Michele and reveals he is terrified, shackled and has been placed there to die.
Meanwhile at Michele's odd little home there are strange conversations between his father Pino (Dino Abbrescia) and his mother (Susi Sánchez), friends enter their home and the emphasis is always on the television news. A smarmy Milanese man comes to stay with them and Michele is forced to give up his bed and his privacy. Ever mistrustful of the adult darkness, he overhears that his father is involved with the others in a kidnapping of a wealthy family's son - Filippo! The manner in which Michele tackles this ugly truth, laying down his own safety to prevent the adults from killing Filippo, is the way this movie winds to a superlative, uplifting end.
So very much of this story is beyond words: the moments of silence, the looks in the eyes of the children, the power of the human spirit ensconced in the body of young lad named Michele, the manner in which the mind of Michele works through all of the adult reality and makes it credible in his fantasy world - all of these defy description. The work of the entire cast is outstanding and the production aspects of every detail of this film are of the highest order. This is a brilliant little film!
Grady Harp, March 05
Movie Review: Quality Drama with a side order of Sicilian Countryside., 5 Jul 2008.
Summary: 5 Stars
Plot:
Thriller dealing with the loss of innocence set in southern Italy. A ten-year-old boy discovers a young child chained up and starving in an abandoned farmyard. He befriends the boy and slowly discovers that he has uncovered a conspiracy that reaches into his own family
My Review:
Written by Niccolò Ammaniti, whose novel is so sublime and subtle in its creative use to describe sound, colour and imagery, comes the onscreen version of one of his appraised novels based on a 1970's kid growing up in Sicily.
Director Gabriele Salvatores accrues together scriptwriter Niccol Ammaniti's simple words and tries to apprehend the panoramic imagery that encompasses the film in its finest and darkest hours. Sheer volume of words could not describe how the imagery grasps the viewers eyes, although as if you are standing upon a Sicilian cornfield, where you can almost feel the dry heat and smell the odorous of faint and distinctive Sicilian cuisine. The very imagery makes in an envious place to live, as if on some level that the pleasures of the idyllic rural existence is the very essence of a carefree life.
The story is of course a bucolic drama is set in 1978; the Basilicata region of Italy, you think with the title it suggests to be about growing up in the rustic keeps of Sicilian Italy. However, the sheer forceful blow comes from the fact that film is like the idyllic place that has more than meets the eye, of course it does with a title as suggestive as it sounds. It seems like a picture-perfect indigenous location that bears the likes of a tourist's idea of a traditional Italian holiday.
The real star is 9-10 year old Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano), the rurally kept pre-adolescent protagonist following his discovery of a feral blind boy Filippo (Mattia Di Pierro), who's chained up in a hole in the ground beside a ruined farm. The pairing of friendship and direction of these two herald by director Gabriele Salvatores shows its true appreciation in the interaction of these two very different children. The range of acting and direction shows the same level of mature child actors in league with other directors, i.e. Guillermo del Toro's work with child star Ivana Baquero in `Pan's Labyrinth' or Alejandro González Iñárritu's direction of children in his trilogy from `Amores Perros', `21 Grams' and recently `Babel'.
One scene that particularly engrosses attention and shows true connection between these younger actors is a scene in which Michele tries to get Filippo to open his eyes and look upon the face of the young lad who has befriended him. The scene shows a glimmer and incandescent spark of light and Filippo's first look at Michele.
Nevertheless, underneath the pristine imagery and wonderful direct lies the superficial rendering of a thriller, less played out conventionally and more a tense coming-of-age light-hearted rigid story. Good stuff.
Verdict:
Unparallel drama and tightly woven plot with a wonderfully sublime script thanks to the novelist. Fancy a trip to Sicily? 8.5/10.
The Film is showing on Monday 7th July 2008 at 12:10 am. On Channel 4.
Movie Review: Magnificent Desolation
Summary: 5 Stars
This Italian film rises above the conventional thriller on many levels. Foremost, its stunning cinematography thrusts the viewer into the midst of the desolate sun-scorched grain fields (farmed by absentee landlords) and the grinding poverty of the Mezzogiorno--the deep South of Italy (The film was shot in the province of Potenza). The eye of the camera not only sweeps over the immense golden landscape, sharply contrasted by vivid blue skies and gathering clouds on the horizon, but it also focuses on the minute components of that landscape: the blood-red poppies scattered among the wheat; shiny black ants scurrying over a rotted piece of wood; a cicada clinging to a spike of wheat. The insistent shrilling of the cicadas, in fact, becomes a pulse that contributes to the heightening suspense of this harrowing tale, which is told from the point of view of Michele, a ten-year old boy.
A kind-hearted innocent with a child's sense of the possibilities of magic and an innate sense of justice and the right thing to do, Michele is confronted by frightening realities that no ten-year old should ever have to experience--realities that force him to grow up during the course of the film. The director has cast a series of non-actor children who are totally natural and therefore believable in their roles. The harsh environment has left its imprint on each of them: the cocky young bully who leads the pack; the chubby girl who becomes the perpetual victim of their childish games; Michele, who reluctantly conforms to the unspoken rules of the game; Michele's little sister, whom he protects; and his best friend who ultimately betrays him, because of the ethic of loyalty to family at all times, no matter how horrific the circumstances. Each of these children with their "follow the leader"- "statue-maker" games, represents in miniature a forecast of a bleak future in an unrelenting environment.
And then Michele's life is changed irrevocably by an apparition of a boy. As mutual terror grows to empathy, understanding, and finally a dreadful recognition, the story assumes a magical beauty that transforms a film, which, in less capable hands might have come across merely as an exciting melodrama, into almost allegorical significance. The film is crafted so well that the viewer experiences intense emotions that are not forced by directorial manipulation, but emerge naturally from the tightening of the strings of suspense as the tragedy moves to what seems will be its inevitable conclusion.
The splendid musical score acts as a complement to the narrative and never overwhelms it. My only quibble is the translation of English title, "I'm not scared!", which perhaps misleads the prospective buyer and trivializes what emerges as a powerful story. "Io non ho paura!"--"I am not afraid!"-- scrawled on the wall of a dark cave under a dilapidated stone farmhouse in Calabria--are words of a child's defiance of fear; a whistling in the dark, as it were. The defiance seems to have been lost in the translation. But my quibble ought to be seen for what it is--a picky quibble that should not deter anyone from purchasing this DVD. The film will not disappoint.
Movie Review: Lost Innnocence: Beautiful and Gripping Tale from Italy
Summary: 5 Stars
This is another showcase of genuis of Gabriele Salvatores (Academy winner for "Mediterraneo"), telling the story of a boy named Michele. The unsettling story, based on the novel of the same title by Niccolo Ammaniti, is skillfully told against the background of the beautiful scenery of the southern part of Italy. Michele is a 10-year-old boy living in a small village in southern part of Italy. The time is 1978, and the season, summer. Amid the breathtakingly beautiful nature, however, the life of the people (only five families) is not easy. But the kids are the same as everywhere else, and the six children are playing around the old houses today, like any ordinary kids do.
Then, Michele, when alone, finds a hole on the ground covered by planks. Unsuspicious, Michele peeps into the darkness, only to find something very unusual deep in the hole. And that looks like a foot of a human ....
THE STORY IS BASICALLY A THRILLER, seen from the eye of the boy. If I go on telling the story, I would spoil the joy and thrill of watching the film, so I only add that what the boy finds changes the boy's way of looking at things around him eternally. He comes to realize that there is evil hidden among the peaceful life of him and his friends. And as the film's title "I'm Not Scared" (with a pretty childilke nuance) suggests, Michele slowly starts to find a way to understand and fight the world surrounding him in his own way.
Don't get me wrong. The film's premise is that of a thriller, but the stress is given to the realistic portraits of the characters, especially Michele, Michele's mother and father. As the film introduces them, we soon realize that Salvatores avoids cliched characterizations of the family. And then we discover something quite unnerving beneath the family through the experience of Michele. It's like a fairy tale with a slight tinge of crime novel.
The kids, all non-professionals, are just fantastic. They could be cute, they could be weak, and they could be cruel. In short, they are real. The most famous face you see might be Aitana Sanchez-Gijon (as Michele's mother), who was seen against Keanu Reeves in "Walk in the Cloud." She looks totally different from her role in the romantic tale, but still great and convincing.
The film, blessed with the great photography and soundtrack, is another proof that the Italian directors from the newer generations are the power to be reckoned with. Some may call it the Italian "Stand by Me." Actually, "I'm Not Scared" is much more than that, without which, however, you will be utterly captivated.
The incident depicted in this film is loosely based on the real-life events that happened around the time the film shows. A few knowledge about the cultural background (the economical gap between the "rich" north and south in Italy) might help understand the film.
Movie Review: Vale il sottotitolo (worth the subtitles)
Summary: 5 Stars
The American acceptance of a subtitled film is a rare occurrence. Excepting Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (and to some, the incredibly stupid Y Tu Mama Tambien), rarely has a foreign-language movie been as enjoyable to Americans as I'm Not Scared. It is set in 1978 rural Italy.
The movie centers on the character of Michele, the 10-year-old son of Pino, an Italian criminal. Early in the story, Michele proves himself the most moral of his friends; when a female member of the group is voted the loser of a bet and must expose herself, he stops her and volunteers to "pay up" himself (in fact, he did lose the race, and ends up walking precariously over a high-altitude beam).
Shortly thereafter, Michele discovers a secret under an outdoor panel near an abandoned house. Though this happens early in the movie, the details are not revealed until later - in fact, based only on the audience's first impressions, the movie would be placed in a completely different genre.
Therefore, the basic plot of the movie is something of a spoiler. What can be revealed is this: I'm Not Scared is an outstanding movie, well worth dealing with the subtitles.
Though the flick is often promoted and analyzed as a statement about youthful innocence, this is a bit inaccurate. Faced with the situation young Michele is, most people would react with fear.
I'm Not Scared, rather, is a statement about courage and morality. The fact that the hero is 10 years old serves only to make it more remarkable and, oddly, more believable at the same time.
Through its diverse personalities, the movie introduces the audience to all forms of good and bad. There is the almost-pure Michele, his mislead friends, his criminal-with-few-limits father, and a downright-evil gang leader.
Director Gabriele Salvatores has no problem provoking moral judgments in the audience, a welcome contrast to Hollywood storylines where violence is promoted and adulterous sex scenes are shown against glorious background music.
The personalities bounce against each other expertly, culminating in a disturbing but very hopeful conclusion. Not for a second does the movie lose the audience's concentration.
Despite its violent plot and R rating, I'm Not Scared is far less graphic than it could be. Though there are some unsettling images, much of the suggested violence either appears off-screen or not at all. Once again, details would spoil the plot, but is safe to say a PG-13 rating would not have been unreasonable.
Essentially, I'm Not Scared is a near-perfect movie, hurt only marginally by its use of subtitles. It is suspenseful and entertaining, and it has a clear message.