Customer Reviews

I'm Not Scared

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

"I'm not scared" is the kind of film that gives you a headache afterwards from all the contemplation that it forces you into. You will not be able to stop thinking about the many questions and implications posed by this most troublesome film. It is an absolutely brilliant movie, almost ruinous in the depth and complexity of its underlying themes. "I'm not scared" is a story about a young Italian boy, but the movie is overwhelmingly mature and mesmerisingly developed.

Some of the other reviewers have very unscrupulously given away the main "surprise" of the film. Since the discovery is half the fun, I would not deprive you of the pleasure by spoiling it for you. Thus I am forced to "describe around" the movie without actually giving away the most crucial parts of the plot.

Suffice to say that the story revolves around a young, naive, but pure-hearted boy Michele, who is growing up in a small rural Italian village. He makes a shocking discovery and soon finds himself entangled in a world he does not fully understand. His parents, and perhaps the entire village, harbour an unspeakable secret. There are many important themes in the movie. Perhaps the most obvious one is Michele's premature coming-of-age; the end of innocence. Michele is forced by fate to deal with tough moral issues which no boy his age should have to deal with.

Disillusionment is another major theme. Every child begins his/her life believing his parents to be infallible and all-knowing, all-protecting. If one makes some grave mistake, surely mommy or daddy will fix it and make it better. Every child must necessarily go through the potentially traumatic discovery of his/her parents' imperfection as part of growing up. Michele is forced to experience this on a devastating scale. As he feels the world he thought he knew crumble above him, he is forced to slowly accept that he needs to personally step up to the plate.

The final, and in my opinion perhaps the most important theme, is: "what does it mean to be a Hero"? This is a favourite theme in movies, across a wide variety of genres. Films as different as the "Spiderman" series and Jet Li's "Hero" each give their own interpretation. In "I'm Not Scared", the question is only hinted at, and the answer is only given in muted voices and subtle suggestions. Yet it pervades the entire story. The young actor who plays Michele brilliantly portrays his character's confusion, frustration, and ultimate acceptance (of what he must do) as he tries to grapple with and understand the great evils going on over his head. The world of grownups has never looked dirtier.

However, I don't think the answer is something as simple as "do what your heart tells you" or "do the right thing"; it's much more nuanced. Almost none of the characters in the movie are one-dimensional or "black-and-white". Michele's mother is clearly just as trapped as her son in a plan not of her deivising. Michele's father is an even more fascinating and morally ambiguous character.

The ending of the film is somewhat predictable and perhaps too poignant. However, there is a completeness, a 'unity' to it that brings the movie full circle. Something about the story demands this ending; none other would do. One thing is for certain; by the end of the movie, Michele has indeed become a Hero.

Great film with a haunting soundtrack. It's too bad these types of movies aren't typical of US film makers. The one thing I've always appreciated about foreign film makers is their honest portrayl of children and childhood....no fear of sending the wrong message to a paranoid culture. If you love boys or boyhood and can remember your own childhood you'll love this film. It's endearing, suspensful, and stays with you. It's definitely one of the best of the year...foreign or otherwise, and I'm an avid moviegoer with little tolerance for bad films. Check it out!

"I'm Not Scared" is a contemplative story set in the picturesque Italian countryside that has a heart of wrenching emotions and moral crisis. Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) is a 10-year-old boy living with his parents and sister in rural Italy in 1978, momentarily happy that his father (Dino Abbrescia) has returned from an unexplained absence. One day Michele finds another boy (Mattia Di Pierro) being held captive in a hole in the ground just outside of his village. Both boys are imaginative and pensive by nature, and Michele doesn't immediately ask the obvious question: Why is the boy in the hole? Instead he enjoys creating fantastic scenarios to explain it. But eventually he suspects, and then understands, who is keeping the boy a prisoner.

"I'm Not Scared" is based on the novel of the same name by Niccolo Ammaniti. The film's thoughtful pace and beautiful landscapes belie the its emotional impact. The boy in the hole is in a horrific situation, and Michele is gradually coming to grips with the adult world that surrounds him, into which he has either not previously had insight or has not taken much notice. Italo Petriccione's cinematography reveals the flora and fauna of the region and gives the audience a strong sense of environment. Director Gabriele Savatores has chosen to pay particular attention to the sights and sounds of nature against which rural life plays out, especially the natural world's predators. "I'm Not Scared" exploits a clear demarcation between the worlds of adults and children. The story takes place mostly among the children, whose motivations, imaginations, and relationships exist primarily among themselves, so they sometimes behave differently than one might expect. "I'm Not Scared" is more powerful for the decision to observe the characters, not to pity them. This is one of the great films with a child protagonist. Italian with English subtitles.

The DVD: No bonus features. Subtitles are available in English or Spanish. Captioning for the hearing impaired is available in English.

Michele lives in Italy in the late seventies and spends his days playing with the same friends in his sparse neighborhood and biking through the fields with his little sister.

One day, he comes across an abandoned house, where he finds a bowl that looks strangely like those in his own house. There, he discovers a horrifying secret. Suddenly, he is involved and there is no turning back. Should he pretend that he never found out or should his risk his own life and possibly save another?

This movie kept me on the edge of my seat. It was suspenseful and touching at the same time. It's scary that things like this have happened. (and still do)

Recommended!

I'M NOT SCARED (Miramax) is a terrific, visually glorious thriller, set in 1978, during a sun-drenched summer in a southern Italian region of vast, golden, rolling hills of wheat. But this place of idyllic childhood innocence ends when Michele, a ten year old boy, makes a sinister discovery: a boy, much like himself, chained under ground.

Wonderfully directed by Gabriele Salvatores ("Mediterraneo"), this gripping film is not only about the evil that lurks beneath the surface of ordinary reality, it's also about the dangerous moral choices Michele struggles with after he discovers his own parents are involved. I could barely breathe during the last 15 minutes.

Whether you're drawn to suave action heroes tossing out wry quips while emptying machine-guns into charging hoards, or of nearly wordless, hours-long existential explorations of meaningfulness and nothingness, "I'm Not Scared" will likely find in you a delighted new fan.

For the subtitle-phobic: take a risk! "I'm Not Scared" is refreshingly original, quietly chilling, and continually surprising to the end. The cast, led by 10 year-old Guiseppe Cristiano, is uniformly solid, and the Oscar-caliber photography is nothing short of brilliant.
The smart, effective score never gets overly dramatic nor does it tip the audience as to how it's "supposed" to feel. Its quiet beauty merely serves to support and bind the elements of the story, while standing humbly in the background.

I discovered this film quite by accident, having read no reviews, and now consider it to be my "find" of the year. I recommend "I'm Not Scared" without reserve or hesitation to anyone who ever wondered what his or her parents really did to make their money.

What a concept! WOW! This Italian film deals with a scary premise, that for some is all too real. What if the people a child is supposed to trust all conspired to do a great evil--to betray another child? What if you realized as a ten-year old that you stood on higher moral ground than all the adults in your life? What if, in fact, they, and even some of your school friends, were all involved in a horrific conspiracy? And if you found out, what would you do?

The acting and plot of this engaging, engrossing movie flow so naturally, you'll think this is a true story. Believability is the huge strength of this compelling film. As a technical side note, the subtitles seemed to be so well done I ceased to notice them.

Bottom-line: An excellent story, well-told. The one caution is that the film flows at a natural, and ironically slow pace, considering the underlying action. That is perhaps one of the points. Evil can be done by loved ones, without a lot of flash-bang.

This movie is a mystery thriller type, but dear lord, there were parts of this movie when I could hardly stay in my chair. It's simply a classic and should get recognition for being one of the best modern Italian movies (I'm not sure if it has). Wow! Watch it.

IO NON HO PAURA (I'M NOT SCARED) is a radiant film by director Gabriele Salvatores based on the novel by Niccolò Ammaniti (who also wrote the screenplay) that quietly puts the premise 'greater love hath no man than he lay down etc' into the desperately gentle innocence of children. The impact is overwhelmingly beautiful: this film is destined to become one of the most memorable greats in the catalogues of ardent film lovers.

The setting is Southern Italy, 1978, and with the sweeping cinematography of Italo Petriccione we are set in motion with the vista of golden wheat fields where a group of children are traveling toward a secret old house. Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) is with his young sister Maria (Giulia Matturo) and in their speed to reach the destination her glasses are broken and Michele pockets them, promising to tape them to avoid their mother's wrath. Once the children reach the abandoned old ruin of a house, games ensue, one fat girl is informed that she has lost the game and must display herself to the boys as punishment. Michele prevents this from happening by taking responsibility and is made to climb into the scary old house and jump out. Michele succeeds and the children mount their bikes to return home to their tiny village. On the way home Michele discovers he has lost his sister's glasses so he returns by himself to the house, sees the glasses atop an odd tin piece hidden by straw. Michele lifts the tin and discovers a deep hole that contains a body covered with a filthy blanket with only a foot in view. Terrified, Michele flees and returns home with his sister.

At night Michele's curiosity wins and he sneaks out of his house to return to the old house. There he slowly discovers that the roofed hole contains a living person who begs for water, then food. Over the next few days Michele finds that the hole person is a young boy his age, and though filthy and frightened the young lad Filippo (Mattia Di Pierro) grows to depend on Michele and reveals he is terrified, shackled and has been placed there to die.

Meanwhile at Michele's odd little home there are strange conversations between his father Pino (Dino Abbrescia) and his mother (Susi Sánchez), friends enter their home and the emphasis is always on the television news. A smarmy Milanese man comes to stay with them and Michele is forced to give up his bed and his privacy. Ever mistrustful of the adult darkness, he overhears that his father is involved with the others in a kidnapping of a wealthy family's son - Filippo! The manner in which Michele tackles this ugly truth, laying down his own safety to prevent the adults from killing Filippo, is the way this movie winds to a superlative, uplifting end.

So very much of this story is beyond words: the moments of silence, the looks in the eyes of the children, the power of the human spirit ensconced in the body of young lad named Michele, the manner in which the mind of Michele works through all of the adult reality and makes it credible in his fantasy world - all of these defy description. The work of the entire cast is outstanding and the production aspects of every detail of this film are of the highest order. This is a brilliant little film!
Grady Harp, March 05

A 12-year-old boy from a tiny, impoverished village in the south of Italy finds a deep hole next to an abandoned farmhouse. In the hole is another 12-year-old boy. Who is he? Why is he there? How the two boys begin to deal with each other is the heart of the story. As we and the first boy learn more, and learn who is involved, the movie developes real tension. The first boy has to make choices, and then so does the second boy.

The movie is beautifully photographed with summer days and fields of wheat. A kind of a coming-of-age film, but with unsettling undercurrents of probable violence. You're never sure until the last just how the conclusion of the film will turn out.