Many of Lina Wertmuller's movies (such as "Seven Beauties" and "Swept Away") have dealt with the North-South divide in Italy. "Io speriamo che me la cavo" (called "Ciao, Professore!" in English) has Northern Italian professor Marco Sperelli (Paolo Villaggio) getting sent to a destitute town near Naples and having to get used to being a teacher there, especially with the presence of a young hoodlum in the school. Maybe it's not Wertmuller's greatest movie, but it is something that I would recommend - although I should warn you, there's some stuff here that might be a little shocking to find in a movie dealing with children. Buon viaggio!
