It has it's moments, but generally weak (spoilers)

fsa10

I saw this film a few hours ago and although it is beautifully shot and contains great performances from the child actors, the script could have been a lot stronger.

The film is gripping at points, but failed to sustain any sense of tension. It couldn't decide if it wanted to be a thriller or a father-son story. It is rife with unanswered questions. The film lost a lot of steam when we started to learn more about Filippo, the kidnapped boy. It was much more compelling when we didn't know about him. Was he dead? A monster? raised by animals? a ghost? They should have withheld that info a bit longer.


The motivations for the kidnapping were so simplistic: money. And why is the father involved with those thugs? Is it the mafia? Does he owe  someone money? I wanted to know more about why they kidnapped Filippo. The relationship between Michele and his father was confusing. The arm wrestling scene showed me that he loved him, yet why would he keep defying his father and mother? Why did he feel so compelled to befriend the boy? What was with his fantasies of their being brothers?

And why did they feel the need to focus on the mother's breasts before the near-rape scene? So we could identify with the (near) rapist? Did anyone else catch that? And another thing: when we see helicopters near the end, we know that they're basically caught. It made the ending kind of cheap and unsurprising. There was nothing at stake. By the end of the film, I didn't really care much for the characters. Michele reaching for Filippo's hand at the end was really cheesy.

Basically, the kidnapping subplot was distracting. This film is not a true thriller. It is about Michele's relationship with his family and his desire for a real friend.

Maybe I haven't seen enough Italian films. Maybe I'm biased because I just took a screenwriting class, but this film breaks every screenwriting rule in the book. In my honest opinion, they should go back to the drawing board and start over.

score /10

fsa10 13 May 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0885389/