The Stolen Children (Italian: Il ladro di bambini) is a 1992 Italian film directed by Gianni Amelio. The film was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 65th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[1][2]
| The Stolen Children | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Gianni Amelio |
| Written by | Gianni Amelio Sandro Petraglia Stefano Rulli Giorgia Cecere |
| Produced by | Angelo Rizzoli Jr |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Tonino Nardi Renato Tafuri |
| Edited by | Simona Paggi |
| Music by | Franco Piersanti |
| Distributed by | The Samuel Goldwyn Company in USA, 1993 |
Release date |
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Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
Plot
11-year-old Rosetta and 9-year old Luciano live with their mother in the housing projects of Milan. Internal migrants from Sicily, they face prejudice in their adopted city. Their mother is unemployed and their father has long since abandoned them. For the past two years, the mother has hired her daughter out as a prostitute. The authorities raid the place and arrest the mother and a client. The children are destined to be sent to a Catholic orphanage in Civitavecchia, Rome. Two carabinieri, the rookie Antonio and an older man named Grignani are assigned the thankless task of escorting the children there by train. Grignani bails on Antonio at Bologna to see a girlfriend, leaving Antonio to complete the task alone.
The children prove to be a handful, often fighting or running off in different directions. Luciano is sickly, doesn't eat much and rarely speaks. Rosetta is cynical, rebellious and manipulative. When they arrive at the orphanage, the priest in charge tells Antonio that the children cannot stay because Rosetta's medical record is missing. Antonio suspects that they are using this as a pretext because of her background as a prostitute.
Antonio calls Grignani at the number he provided and explains the situation, but Grignani is no help. Rather than contact his superiors for further instructions and expose his partner's misconduct, and also concerned for the children's fate, Antonio naively decides to take matters into his own hands and bring the children to another institute in their native Sicily. His plan immediately runs into problems when Luciano has an asthma attack on the way to the train station, causing them to miss the train. They spend an awkward night at the bachelor pad of a carabiniere acquaintance of Antonio's.
After a long train and coach journey, the trio arrive at Antonio's sister's home in Calabria, which doubles as a restaurant. There they celebrate the First Communion of a family member. Antonio tells his family members that Rosetta and Luciano are the children of one of his superiors. Rosetta plays and socializes with other kids her age, while Luciano makes friends with Antonio's grandmother, who gives him a photo of a six-year-old Antonio in a Zorro costume. Their fun, however, is short-lived as one of the guests at the party recognizes Rosetta from an article in a sensationalist magazine, which she shows to the other guests at the party. Rosetta, incredibly humiliated and ashamed, dashes from the house. Antonio runs after her and comforts her, saying the woman is an idiot and it doesn't matter what she thinks. Antonio has finally cracked through Rosetta's tough exterior and now feels a genuine sense of compassion for her and her brother, rather than a simple sense of duty.
Antonio, who in the meantime has acquired (or borrowed) an old Fiat, acquiesces to Rosetta's demand that they leave the place immediately, and drives them to the ferry terminal at the Strait of Messina. On the ferry, he finally has a conversation with Luciano. Rather than driving directly to the orphanage, he takes another detour, taking them to a cheap hotel near Marina di Ragusa where he rents two adjoining rooms. The next day, they visit the beach, where he teaches Luciano to swim, forming a close bond with him. There, they meet two young French women, who flirt mildly with Antonio and take a liking to Rosetta.
The five of them drive to Noto and visit the Noto Cathedral. One of the tourists gives Rosetta her camera, which is then snatched from her. Antonio chases down the thief and arrests him, taking him to the local carabiniere station. At the station, one of the tourists learns of the circumstances of the children, and insensitively relates it to her friend. Rosetta picks up the word "prostitute" and immediately breaks off all friendship with the women, returning to her previous sullen manner. Antonio is accused of kidnapping and abusing the children, and failure to follow orders. He is forced to hand in his warrant card pending disciplinary action. Several hours later, they are all released.
Antonio drives the children to Gela late into the night. Upset at the probable loss of his career in the carabinieri, he says very little during the journey. Having nearly reached their final destination, Antonio pulls over to an abandoned block where all three of them fall asleep in the car. The children wake up at early dawn, and walk off to the side of the road, where they sit together and talk about their future in the orphanage.
Cast
- Enrico Lo Verso - Antonio
- Valentina Scalici - Rosetta
- Giuseppe Ieracitano - Luciano
- Florence Darel - Martine
- Marina Golovine - Nathalie
- Fabio Alessandrini - Grignani
- Agostino Zumbo - Priest
- Vitalba Andrea - Antonio's Sister
- Massimo De Lorenzo - Papaleo
- Celeste Brancato - Girl at Dinner
- Vincenzo Peluso - Carabiniere
- Santo Santonocito - Carabiniere
- Renato Carpentieri - Chief of Police
- Maria Pia Di Giovanni - Mother of Rosetta and Luciano
- Lello Serao - Arrested Man
Production
The producers originally wanted to cast Antonio Banderas in the lead role, with Enrico Lo Verso's southern Italian accent dubbed over, but director Gianni Amelio insisted that Lo Verso was perfect for the role.[3] Influenced by the Italian neorealist cinematic tradition, Amelio cast non-actors for the majority of the roles, including the two child leads.
The Italian title Il ladro di bambini literally translates as "The child thief", an ironic reference to the fact that in taking the children on an unauthorised journey, Antonio has technically kidnapped them. It is also a nod to Vittorio de Sica's neorealist classic Ladri di biciclette.
Reception
The film was a moderate success at the box office, grossing nearly $1m in the United States and more on the international festival circuit. It received almost universal critical acclaim; Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars out of 4, saying "Here is a movie with the spontaneity of life; watching it is like living it."[4]
Awards
- 1992 Cannes Film Festival - Grand Prize of the Jury, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury[5]
- European Film Awards - Best Film
- 6 David di Donatello - Best Film, Best Director, Best Producer, Best Editing, Best Music, Special David for their child acting (Giuseppe Ieracitano & Valentina Scalici )
- 2 Nastro d'Argento - Best Director, Best Screenplay
- The film was nominated for the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.
See also
References
- ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ^ "Foreign Oscar entries submitted". Variety. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ Enrico Lo Verso profile at TrovaCinema, La Repubblica
- ^ Roger Ebert,Il Ladro Di Bambini, 23 April 1993
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Stolen Children". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-08-14.