Un ragazzo di Calabria (1987)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Luigi Comencini

Writers:

Demetrio Casile (previous screenplay)
Francesca Comencini (writer)

Release Date:

11 September 1987 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Territory Name In Title

Cast

Gian Maria Volontè	...	Felice
Diego Abatantuono	...	Nicola
Thérèse Liotard	...	Maria 'Mariuccia' Sileca
Santo Polimeno	...	Mimi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giada Desideri	...	Crisolinda (as Giada Faggioli)
Jean Rene Masrevery
Jacques Peyrac
Enzo Ruoti

Also Known As:

The Boy from Calabria
Un enfant de Calabre (France)

Runtime:

Argentina:108 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Certification:

France:U | Argentina:13

Company:

Canal+ Productions

Run, run, run!

A BOY FROM CALABRIA is a nice story set in one of the most beautiful regions of Italy's south. It is the story of 13-year-old Mimi' (well-played by Santo Polimeno), who achieves earthly ecstasy whenever he is running...and always in bare feet, like his hero, the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, who won the Olympic marathon in 1960, when this story is set. Mimi's own ambition is to participate in the youth race in Rome, despite the firm opposition of his gruff and slightly insane father who thinks running at all is a time-waster and beats his son to prove the point. Director Luigi Comencini has a tradition of making fine films about children, such as PROIBITO RUBARE and LA FINESTRA SUL LUNA PARK. Gian Maria Volonte', the great Italian actor seen in CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI, plays the boy's bus-driver/mentor Felice. The film is not perfect. It lags here and there and should develop more momentum than it does toward the end. But it is a fine film to show young people studying Italian or Italian culture.