Salvatore - Questa è la vita

A poor little boy working hard to support his sister and grandmother overcomes the well-meaning interference of a teacher and social worker. Even the supposed gangster turns out to have a heart of gold. It's the same old much-regurgitated Disney TV novella set this time in Sicily, and hasn't Sicily endured enough troubles already? Although Giancarlo Giannini easily goes through the motions he only shows how strained and awkward the other actors are, consistently enough to show that the directors, not the actors are at fault. Aside from the Disney media empire breaking into a new market there is no point to this stale, formulaic twaddle.

This film, the first ever produced by Disney in Italy, is not an awful one, but has lots of flaws. The plot line is simple: it's the story of Salvatore, a young Sicilian orphan, who quits school and starts working in order to support his little sister and his grandma. Only his young, idealistic teacher (Enrico Lo Verso) befriends him, going everyday after school to his house, to teach him the lessons he misses in the morning and to help him in his work. The title of this film literally means "Salvatore - that's life" - the problem is life isn't really like that. The whole plot is schmaltzy and unrealistic, and most of character are one-dimensional and underdeveloped. The acting is unequal: part of the cast is good, part is dismal. Lo Verso is a fine actor and does well as the lead character, Gabriele Lavia is great as the headmaster and does a convincing Sicilian accent. Giancarlo Giannini appears briefly as a mob boss - he's not bad, but you have the impression he's in the film just to please the American producers who invested in it. The boy who plays Salvatore is not very talented - he mumbles a lot, with a strong Sicilian accent, and in the most emotional scenes just screams with all his voice. But the real problem of the cast is the female part of it: Lucia Sardo, who plays the grandmother, is evidently a young woman heavily made up to look old - just awful!- and Galatea Ranzi shows some very bad acting as the social worker who wants to put Salvatore in an orphanage. One last thing: I hated the Laura Pausini song used in the movie. It's annoying and strengthens the feeling this film was thought to be exported. My rating is 6-/10

Although I have to admit that the film was not as deep or perfect as it could have been, I immensely enjoyed watching it. Coming from the very area this film plays in, I can appreciate the accurate representation of this area's lifestyle, scenery and culture. In this particular setting the movie is rather believable as well. Furthermore, I loved the use of the correct accent for Southern Sicily, showing that the producers did their research right. All in all, its a very nice movie with the right dose of sadness, drama, and lightheartedness. Definitely recommendable to those who like Sicily, but not so much for those who just wish to see a good drama.