LA SCOPERTA ("The Discovery") was made outside the mainstream commercial distribution system by San Paolo film, an educational/inspirational entity tied to the Vatican. It was intended for showing to youth groups, primarily in church halls. The story is about as group of kids, led by Alberto, who are camera buffs and post their 'fotoromanzi' - illustrated live photo stories - on various walls. One day they decide to do one story set in the Colosseum and one of the group writes a letter pretending that he is going to commit suicide. A group of "paolini"
members of the San Paolo organization
find out about this, come to his presumed rescue, and the boy is drawn into the group of kids, these young Christians who are filled with ideas of genuine brotherly love and the apostolate of the church. He decides to join them. The movie is well-intentioned but not particularly strong agit-prop for the Christian message of brotherly love and the San Paolo organization with its publications and audio-visual aids. The movie is interesting because it features the young Alessandro Momo in one of the roles. This boy went on to star as a teenager in some very successful films. Two were with sex-goddess Laura Antonelli: PECCATO VENIALE and MALIZIA, about as different from LA SCOPERTA as you could get. Another, and perhaps Momo's best, was as the young protégé of Vittorio Gassman in SCENT OF A WOMAN (PROFUMO DI DONNA), a movie that inspired a Hollywood remake with Al Pacino. Momo died tragically in 1974 in a motorcycle accident at the age of twenty. Another, Giuva Fioravanti, became implicated in some actions by a terrorist group.
