I'm Not Scared (film)
From AwardAnnals
| This creative work has a long or truncated description. Please review the creative work guidelines concerning descriptions and edit down or replace the description. |
 | |
| Director(s) | Gabriele Salvatores |
|---|---|
| Distributor | Miramax |
| Honors | |
| This decidedly unorthodox and generally discomfiting thriller, directed by Academy Award winner Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo), is suffused with moral ambiguity yet manages to take a decisive point of view nonetheless. The film’s squirm-inducing plot unfolds gracefully, and Salvatores’ skill at character development enables him to capture the sympathy of viewers who might otherwise find the story too distasteful for enjoyment. The film’s predominant point of view is that of its ten-year-old protagonist, Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano), who discovers a… | |
Honors
Reviews
Barnes and Noble
This decidedly unorthodox and generally discomfiting thriller, directed by Academy Award winner Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo), is suffused with moral ambiguity yet manages to take a decisive point of view nonetheless. The film’s squirm-inducing plot unfolds gracefully, and Salvatores’ skill at character development enables him to capture the sympathy of viewers who might otherwise find the story too distasteful for enjoyment. The film’s predominant point of view is that of its ten-year-old protagonist, Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano), who discovers a kidnapped boy imprisoned in an abandoned house. Not quite sure how to proceed, Michele tells no one about his find, whose name is Filippo (Mattia Di Pierro), and smuggles food to the chained captive whenever he can. It turns out that Michele’s father, Pino (Dino Abbrescia), had a hand in the abduction, and the adoring son is faced with a dilemma: Does he remain silent, or does he inform the police and see his father apprehended? Salvatores adds suspense by letting things play out at a leisurely pace; days, perhaps weeks pass as Michele grapples with his conscience. The pastoral Italian location is an unlikely one for a film of this type, but the placid, beautiful environment reinforces a normalcy that makes the boy’s underlying problem even more challenging. A coming-of-age movie with a difference, I’m Not Scared uses a deceptively simply mise-en-scène to heighten tension and underscore the blood-curdling tendency of Homo sapiens to commit heinous deeds in the most banal settings and situations. This film will stay with you long after the closing credits—whether you’d like it to or not. Ed Hulse
Find this film
Related works
I'm Not Scared: A Novel
Niccolò Ammaniti, Jonathan Hunt
“Stop all this talk about monsters, Michele. Monsters don’t exist. It’s men you should be afraid of, not monsters.”A sweltering heat wave hits a tiny village in Southern Italy, sending the adults to seek shelter, while their children bicycle freely throughout the countryside, playing games and getting into trouble. On a dare, nine-year-old Michele Amitrano enters an old, abandoned farmhouse, where he stumbles upon a secret so terrible that he can’t tell anybody. As the truth emerges, Michele learns that the horror in the creepy old house is closer to home…
