The camerawork immerses you into the world of Pio and the daily life and skills required to survive and get by on the streets in a small Romani community. The use of people from this real life community adds to the realistic feel of the film and the sensational performance by Pio takes you deep into his world, his feelings and his desire for adulthood and to be the man of the family.
This frank and honest portrayal doesn’t resort to violence, action or over dramatising the situation that the film is based on and in all honesty, it doesn’t need to. The acting, camerawork, pace and whole structure of the film is what makes this film stand tall in delivering a fantastic insight into this way of life.
A real cinematic triumph!!
Absorbing insight into the life of a Romani community on the criminal margins of Italian society.
The character of Pio undergoes a tough rite of passage from boyhood to manhood in a world where love and compassion are in short supply. There is an air of inevitability about his transition into a ruthless macho gang member, probably a future leader.
Family gang loyalty trumps Pio's warm bond with an African man who has protected and helped him.
This is an excellent film, with inventive camerawork and surefooted direction.
Following (literally a lot of the time) Pio as he picks his way through life in the Ciambra community and with his African refugee/immigrant friends this is a fascinating story of family and community and the tensions of growing up.
Life is confusing when you are growing up, and the film might seem so at first but it all comes together as a vivid portrait of Pio's experience trying to grow up.
The actors playing the family members are all a real Romani family playing themselves, but it is only at the end credits when you see their names that you realise this, so natural are their performances (I don't speak Italian so there may be some clues in the way lines are delivered).
This is an excellent example of modern neo-Realism, very much in the vein of de Sica's classic 'Bicycle Thieves', but thoroughly modern. If you like the films of Ken Loach or Mike Leigh you'll like this.