I'm Not Scared (2003)
"Io non ho paura" (original title)

A young boy accidentally discovers a deep hole in the ground, where another boy is kept prisoner.

Director:

Gabriele Salvatores

Writers:

Niccolò Ammaniti (novel), Niccolò Ammaniti (screenplay),

Stars:

Giuseppe Cristiano, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Dino Abbrescia

11 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Giuseppe Cristiano	...	Michele
Mattia Di Pierro	...	Filippo
Adriana Conserva	...	Barbara
Fabio Tetta	...	Teschio
Giulia Matturo	...	Maria
Stefano Biase	...	Salvatore
Fabio Antonacci	...	Remo
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón	...	Anna
Dino Abbrescia	...	Pino
Giorgio Careccia	...	Felice
Antonella Stefanucci	...	Assunta
Riccardo Zinna	...	Pietro
Michele Vasca	...	Candela
Susi Sánchez	...	Filippo's mother (as Susy Sánchez)
Diego Abatantuono	...	Sergio

Storyline

While playing outside one day, nine-year-old Michele discovers Filippo, who is chained to the ground at the bottom of a hole. Michele witnesses town baddie Felice nearby and suspects something bad is happening. Michele is unsure whom he should tell about his discovery, eventually spilling the beans to his closest friend.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | friend | fear | chained | kidnapping | 

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Taglines:

The award-winning thriller that shocked Europe is coming to America.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing images and language

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [us] official site

Country:

Italy Spain UK

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (Italy)

Also Known As:

I'm Not Scared

Filming Locations:

Apulia, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£41,407 (UK) (11 June 2004)

Gross:

$1,615,118 (USA) (27 August 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cattleya, Medusa Film, Colorado Film Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was loosely based on a true story of a kidnapped boy from Milan and the novella written about the incident.

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Goofs

When Michele is getting ready to leave Filippo after giving him the bread, the rope going into the hole disappears quickly for one shot and then reappears for the rest of the scene.

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Connections

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Se telefonando"
Written by Ghigo De Chiara, Maurizio Costanzo, Ennio Morricone
Performed by Mina
BMG Music

User Reviews

Boys Will Be Men, and Men Will Be Boys

"I'm Not Scared (Io non ho paura)" has a lot in common with the recent Russian film "The Return (Vozvrashcheniye)."

Both start off with poor pre-teen boys' bullying games that then intersect with their returning fathers' parallel adult realities. The contrasting conclusions reflect different national temperaments and the possible political messages in the films.

A major difference is the look that surrounds the contrasts between childhood innocence and male brutishness (abetted by cowed female complicity), where the Russian film is practically in a frigid black and white, the Italian film has the lush, sentimental cinematography of Italo Petriccione, who also worked with director Gabriele Salvatores on the dreamily beautiful "Mediterraneo."

The suspenseful thriller aspects roped me in, though the tension was undercut a bit by the Lavender Hill Mob antics of the conspirators, but the bumbling added to an uneasy feeling of unpredictability, aided by the suspenseful music by Ezio Bosso and Pepo Scherman.

We literally see the happenings through the eyes of the children, which is helped enormously by the unusually expressive and naturalistic child actors Giuseppe Cristiano and Mattia Di Pierro.