I'm Not Scared

I don't know what it is about Italian directors, but it just seems that they are more interested in making classic movies than their American counterparts. They don't rely on body counts, car crashes and pyrotechnics. Instead they tell stories and use beautiful images and scenery to enhance it. In "Io non ho paura" we are treated to a coming of age fable that indeed makes one feel young again. We see the world through a ten year old's eyes and sadly, we see how reality starts to over take the innocence of youth. Michele lives in an economically depressed part of Southern Italy. He has a father that is often absent and surroundings that come straight out of Dickens. However, even with very little, he manages to entertain himself and little sister. One day while retrieving something for his little sister, he makes an odd discovery, a child, living in a hole, far away from anywhere. He soon comes to see that this child is being held captive. Of course, being a ten year old, Michele has many wild ideas about why the child is in the hole. However, as the film progresses, Michele starts to grow up and realize what a harsh world it can be. What really makes this movie are the beautiful shots of Southern Italy, where golden fields go as far as the eye can see. And although the film's ending is a slight letdown, overall it is still a wonderful film. Here is hoping that some American directors might find their souls and start trying to emulate this type of cinema. Bravo!

The real mastery in this film lies in the beautiful simplicity of it's childlikeness. There are few movies in Cinema that portray the innocence and unfeigned nature of children - before the loss of their transparency on the way to adulthood. I know the French film Ponette might come to mind for some lovers of cinema, but that was shot entirely from the perspective of little children almost to the exclusion of grown ups. This film shows the stark contrast of the two worlds by interweaving them, with childhood itself being one of the main characters, as landscapes were for John Ford in so many of his Westerns. Toward the end, it reaches for the sublime in moments of Michelangelo.

For me, the emotional interaction of these very young non actors made the movie spiritual to some degree by way of it's sheer honesty, without compromising the true spirituality in the principles and very adult themes of good vs. evil, betrayal, forgiveness, reaping what you sow, the coming Judgment, and finally - true friendship born of selflessness. Something we adults could learn more from by becoming more like little children ourselves, myself included. I believe this to be one of the best expressions of the young mind in realism, without crossing over into the fantasy that is so common in film today. How refreshing.

Of course all of this speaks for the excellence of the Director and the Writer, who gave us such a beautiful picture. Something that could only be pulled off by adults, albeit with at least the fond memory of a child, if not the heart of one. The cinematography, the very intentional and gorgeous classical score, along with much subtle but deep contrast, make this a modern classic that I will enjoy again and again. I hope you do too.

http://fullgrownministry.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/peace/

[See IMDb main page for this movie for cast credits-none are known outside Italy]

"I'm Not Spoiled" has enjoyed enormous European success and is being screened at art cinemas in the U.S. Shot in a bleak and desolate part of Italy where tourists are never expected, this story of a family thirty or so years ago is seductively engrossing. All is not what it seems. There is both mystery and madness.

Michele, a young boy about ten or so years old, plays with his sister and a small group of friends in empty fields and among ruins of once well-maintained farm houses, now mute ruins. There is no town as such and the only store seems to have few goods or customers.

Michele's father returns from somewhere and he's both loving and hectoring, bestowing presents and admonitions and allowing the two little kids to beat him in arm wrestling. He appears to be a fairly typical Italian paterfamilias, a nice guy. Mom is likable too.

Exploring a vacant, decrepit house Michele discovers a chained and brutalized boy his own age. Confined to a hole in the ground and blinded by any sunlight, the child is clearly a victim of some awful crime. Michele provides sustenance for the kid but makes no effort to alert anyone to the boy's predicament. And that's fortunate because the balance of the film deals with Michele's growing understanding of why and how this angelic-appearing child in white has been kidnapped and chained in a dank hole.

Michele makes a slow journey to a reluctant and frightened maturity as he begins to understand what is going on. As with so many children, he recognizes that grownups upon whom he depends may be more than they seem to be and much of what they are isn't very nice.

The acting, especially by the two young boys and Michele's sister, is convincingly real, free of affect. Much of the cinematography emphasizes the loneliness of a bypassed-by-prosperity region but the director, unfortunately, succumbed to some mannerized filming. Closeups of small field creatures are shots which add nothing to the story and inject a contrived artificiality.

Not many films successfully center a mysterious and terrifying predicament as a way of exploring children's emotional lives. "I'm Not Scared" does.

8/10

I personally really like movies that portray childhood the way I remember it--kids doing kid-like activities and adventures, summers with free time to wander and explore, and seeing the way kids think. They don't quite see things as adults do. The kids in the movie were quite realistic.

I think that Michele, the main character has more awareness and sympathy for people than most kids as evidenced by the stories he writes and reads to his sister. After he finds a child in a hole in the ground he writes a story about a child hidden away. Yet he reacts like a child in that he doesn't realize that there is something illegal going on, at least at first. The story unfolds slowly but steadily.

Because this movie is about kids and some suspicious people (Michele's father and friends)and the story is not written with a formula, there is an added dimension to the element of unpredictability.

I truly was inspired by the cinematography showing the idyllic scenes of the summer and wheat fields of Italy, including the insects and wildlife. I really liked the scene with the three threshers approaching Michele as he was crossing the fields. This scene also made us aware of the passing of time and probably summer soon ending. Also, there is, as there in many neighborhoods, a grumpy scary person (the hog farmer) who adds to the atmosphere of unpredictability.

The music is absolutely wonderful. And it is not just the music, but also listen to the skill of the musicians. Just because it is a string quartet playing, don't think it's boring.

In summary, this is a suspenseful, beautiful movie.

Having seen the trailer for the film, I was intrigued. If one doesn't catch an Italian film cycle, it's almost impossible to see a film from that country lately, even in a cosmopolitan city like New York. This film has just been released for a commercial run. Having seen "Mediterraneo" from the same director, Gabriele Salvatores, was another reason for taking a look at this movie.

The film depicts the horrors that Italy lived in the 70s with a wave of kidnappings. While a lot had political undertones, the fact remains that a lot of children were kidnapped for a ransom.

The idyllic way the film unfolds, with the children running freely in the wheat fields, is a sharp contrast of the mystery that is hidden, in a hole, by the abandoned house where they go to play. Michele, the boy at the center of the story, discovers the dark secret that will involve his own family and will end in a tragedy.

This is a story about friendship, loyalty and the realization of the ugliness behind what appears a serene, if poor, family life. Giuseppe Cristiano plays the young boy with conviction and makes us believe he is that boy presented in the story. It also speaks volumes how children interplay with others of their same age no matter whether they are rich, or poor.

The director is to be congratulated for dealing with the subject matter and making us care about a little boy that had the courage to save a life. We'll be looking forward other films from Mr. Salvatores, very soon.