Almost a new generation Italian neo-realist film minus the political commitment, plus a sense that there is more to suffering than poverty alone: decades of social fragmentation and of "me" ideology have left us all as closed as Leibnitzian windowless monads: packed everywhere, but incapable of any elementary form of communication.
The Italian neo-realists, more or less close to various forms of socialism, had here and there glimpse of (naive, as it was to be seen) hope into the "new man." No such feeling is present here. The sky has closed upon us and is not going to open anytime soon.
All in all, a superb, if terribly dramatic film. The final scene is an absolute masterpiece, hinting at unspeakable horrors directed towards the already beaten, raped, and victimized protagonist, with the exquisite restrain not to show them at all.
A great film, which takes on important themes (sexual violence among teenagers, the dissolution of family and social bonds, the apathy of society towards "inconvenient" realities) without puritan restrain but without unnecessary gore. Highly recommended.
