Im Not Scared on DVD | MovieMail UK

Star Review

Set in Southern Italy in 1978, I'm Not Scared by Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo) is about a child who discovers a small lad hidden in a cavernous hole near an abandoned farmhouse and acts with courage and compassion. The film, about a young boy's awakening of conscience, embodies an artistic sensibility that expressively captures the world of a child in its wonder, innocence, and beauty.

Ten-year old Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) is intelligent and strong-willed and we instinctively care about him. When Michele looks for a pair of glasses lost by his sister Maria (Giulia Matturo), he discovers a scared, dirty, and almost blind boy of his own age hidden in a cave. The child, chained to a stake and barely alive, believes that he is dead and that Michele is his guardian angel. Instead of reporting his finding to his overburdened mother (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), or his moody working class father (Dino Abbrescia), he keeps the secret to himself, bringing bread and water to the starving boy and the two develop a bond of friendship. When he discovers the shocking reason why the boy is there, Michele must summon all of his strength to do the right thing.

I'm Not Scared does not idealize children and paint all adults as evil. The children can also be ruthless in cruelly teasing the weakest members of their group and in selling out to the wrongdoers for trifles. Based on a novel by Niccoló Amminiti, I'm Not Scared is part suspense drama and part coming-of-age story but cannot be neatly categorized. It is has a strange otherworldly and mythical quality to it, like a cinematic dream and the result is powerfully moving. In discovering the cave where Filippo is hidden, Michele truly discovers a cave "filled with gems and gold".

Howard Schumann on 12th October 2004

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