Scugnizzi (1989)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Nanni Loy

Writers:

Nanni Loy (writer)
Elvio Porta (writer)

Release Date:

29 April 1995 (Sweden)

Genre:

Musical | Drama

Plot:

Fortunato Assante organizza spettacoli. Viene contattato per allestire, in un carcere minorile, un musical...

Plot Keywords:

Building Fire | Rehearsal | Illegally Parked Car | Orphan | Fireworks

Awards:

5 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Leo Gullotta	...	Fortunato Assante
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Francesco Allocca
Gaetano Amato
Pino Ammendola	...	Salvatore (voice)
Sara Basile	...	Iodice
Germano Bellavia
Alessandro Borgese	...	Motociclista
Christian Capone	...	Beniamino
Pino Caruso	...	The judge
Italo Celoro	...	Mastracchio
Giacomo Colella	...	Cazzillo
Tosca D'Aquino	...	Teresa
Giuseppe De Rosa	...	Migliaccio
Giuseppe Stefano De Sando	...	The Prison Director (as Stefano De Sando)
Nicola Di Pinto	...	Cotenella
Aldo Giuffrè	...	Don Nicola
Massimo Giunto	...	Peppino
Fabio Grossi	...	Don Mancuso
Peppe Lanzetta	...	Mr. Lanzetta
Marco Leonardi	...	Salvatore
Giuseppe Merolla	...	Aglietiello
Claudia Muzi	...	Anita
Piero Pepe	...	Engineer Cernia
Imma Piro	...	Luciella
Graziella Polesinanti	...	Laura Cametta
Lina Polito	...	Mrs. Lanzetta
Pierpaolo Rossi	...	Fellusso
Gerardo Scala	...	Gerardo
Gigi Uzzo	...	Tuppodoro

Also Known As:

Street Kids (USA) (review title)

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Naples, Campania, Italy

Company:

Clemi Cinematografica

Street kids of Naples, singing.

"Scugnizzi" are the often homeless street kids of Naples we have seen portrayed in numerous films made in Italy since World War II such as Rossellini's Naples episode of PAISAN and Comencini's PROIBITO RUBARE. This film combines the social inquiry of a latter-day neorealist film with the levity of an MGM Rooney/Garland "let's put on a show" musical. That levity, however, unlike with MGM, admits of a tragic edge, and the film even incorporates the story of a boy who is killed by the Naples mob.

Leo Gulotta plays Fortunato Assante, a two-bit actor who is pressured into putting on a show with the kids in a Neapolitan boys' reformatory. The real-life tragedies and horror stories of the boys and their families are blended into and intercut with the stage show at the San Carlo Opera House that is the result of all their efforts.

The elaborate musical and dance tableaus depicting the sadder aspects of Neapolitan poverty are really very appealing and wonderfully directed by Nanni Loy (who gave us THE FOUR DAYS OF NAPLES and MI MANDA PICONE.) They are the highlight of the film. The choreography and singing are uniformly excellent. One of the pieces evokes the "sweeping away the drug paraphernalia" fantasy sequence of Rosi's THREE BROTHERS.

The beautiful little kid that sings the uneasy solo that always makes him sick is actually dubbed by an adult female soprano! I wanted to believe it was his own angel-voice! It is nevertheless one of the most moving parts of this very special movie which has, sadly, never been shown commercially in America.