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

Director:

Gabriele Salvatores

Writers:

Niccolò Ammaniti (novel)
Niccolò Ammaniti (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Secrets. Betrayal. Murder.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Boy | Friend | Fear | Chained | Kidnapping

Awards:

11 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Emilio Fede	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Gabriele Salvatores

Writing credits
Niccolò Ammaniti		(novel)
Niccolò Ammaniti		(screenplay) and
Francesca Marciano		(screenplay)

Produced by
Marco Chimenz	....	producer
Giovanni Stabilini	....	producer
Antonio Tacchia	....	line producer
Maurizio Totti	....	producer
Riccardo Tozzi	....	producer

Original Music by
Ezio Bosso
Pepo Scherman

Cinematography by
Italo Petriccione

Film Editing by
Massimo Fiocchi

Casting by
Fabiola Banzi
Fabio Scamoni

Production Design by
Giancarlo Basili

Art Direction by
Ivana Gargiulo

Costume Design by
Patrizia Chericoni
Florence Emir

Makeup Department
Luigi Ciminelli	....	key makeup artist
Fabrizio Nanni	....	hair stylist
Giovanna Turco	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Alessandro Baragli	....	post-production supervisor
Ferdinando Bonifazi	....	production manager
Attila Mancarella	....	production supervisor
Antonio Tacchia	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Barbara Daniele	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Mirko Donati	....	property master
Cosimo Giannuzzi	....	construction coordinator
Elena Stanzani	....	painter

Sound Department
Tullio Arcangeli	....	sound effects editor
Daniela Bassani	....	sound editor
Piergiorgio De Luca	....	sound effects editor
Mauro Lazzaro	....	sound recordist
Danilo Moroni	....	sound mixer
Luca Novelli	....	boom operator
Massimo Puccio	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Dan Edelstein	....	supervising sound editor: US release (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Sergio Cremasco	....	colourist
Stefano Marinoni	....	visual effects supervisor
Federica Nisi	....	visual effects coordinator
Alex Ongaro	....	visual effects
Paola Trisoglio	....	visual effects producer

Camera and Electrical Department
Philippe Antonello	....	still photographer
Dario Badia	....	grip
Massimo Barbona	....	grip
Massimo Barbona	....	key grip
Mauro Blonna	....	video assist operator
Alessandro Chiara	....	camera operator
Daniele Circelli	....	electrician
Simone D'Onofrio	....	assistant camera
Fabio De Meis	....	gaffer
Luciano Durante	....	grip
Claudio Gallicchio	....	electrician
Giovanni Gebbia	....	Steadicam operator
Mauro Mura	....	electrician
Claudio Palmieri	....	assistant camera
Paolo Palmulli	....	grip
Roberto Ridolfi	....	electrician
Cristiano Trentini	....	electrician
Fabrizio Vicari	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Carmen Agostinelli	....	key costumer (as Carmelina Agostinelli)

Editorial Department
Gianni Cerniglia	....	color technician
Pasquale Cuzzupoli	....	color supervisor
Pasquale Cuzzupoli	....	color timer
Anna del Dotto	....	second assistant editor
David Tomasini	....	assistant editor
Matt Garner	....	editorial consultant: US release (uncredited)

Music Department
Giovanni Arcadu	....	music supervisor
Goffredo Gibellini	....	score mix engineer

Other crew
Joshua Berman	....	co-production supervisor
Paola Bonelli	....	script supervisor
Bob Buchholz	....	english language director
Aurora Cancian	....	voice dubbing: Susi Sánchez
Paola Costa	....	production secretary
Roberto Luvisotti	....	production administrator
Matteo Tacchia	....	accountant
Patrizia Wachter	....	press attache

Production Companies

• Cattleya
• Medusa Film
• Colorado Film Production
• Alquimia Cinema
• The Producers Films
• Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (MiBAC) (support)

Distributors

• Albatros Film (Japan) (theatrical)
• Paradiso Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• TFM Distribution (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Telexcel (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Capitol Films
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Imagem Filmes (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Filmverleih (Germany)
• Medusa Distribuzione
• Medyavizyon (2004) (Turkey) (all media)
• Miramax Films (2004) (USA) (subtitled)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF)
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (2009) (USA) (TV)

Special Effects

• Digitalia Graphics S.r.l. (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Dream Sound  sound effects
• Panalight  camera equipment provided by

Also Known As:

"Io non ho paura" - Italy (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing images and language

Runtime:

108 min | Canada:101 min | Argentina:107 min

Country:

Italy | Spain | UK

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Brazil:10 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:MA | Hong Kong:IIA | Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Italy:T | UK:15 | South Korea:12 | USA:TV-MA

Filming Locations:

Apulia, Italy

Company:

Cattleya

Trivia:

Salvatores interviewed nearly 600 boys for the part of Filippo, ultimately settling for novice Giuseppe Cristiano, the son of a Fiat car worker.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michele's mother cleans blood from between his nose and lips, more blood is visible from his lips down onto his chin, but with the next shot, the blood on his chin is gone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "At the Movies: Episode #1.8" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Parole parole

Powerfully moving

I have been critical of films that sidestep issues of conscience for broader appeal, so when a film comes along that tackles the issue head on, it is important to take notice. Set in Southern Italy in 1978, I'm Not Scared by Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo) is about a child who discovers a small lad hidden in a cavernous hole near an abandoned farmhouse and acts with courage and compassion to "do the right thing". The film is partly a standard commercial product with a predictable plot, sentimental music, and pseudo-lyrical slow motion shots but it also embodies an artistic sensibility that expressively captures the world of a child in its wonder, innocence, and beauty. Similar to the 1996 film La Promesse by the Dardenne Brothers, it is a film about a young boy's awakening of conscience.

Ten-year old Michele, exquisitely performed by first-time actor Giuseppe Cristiano, is outgoing, intelligent, and strong-willed and there is a great deal of warmth and knowing in his face that makes us instinctively care about him. Michele and his friends play in the vast golden wheat fields during summer and all seems idyllic. When Michele looks for a pair of glasses lost by his sister Maria (Giulia Matturo), however, he makes an unexpected discovery. Beneath a straw-covered plank in the ground he finds Filippo (Mattia Di Pierro), a scared, dirty, and almost blind boy of his own age. The child, chained to a stake and barely alive, is subject to hallucinations and believes that he is dead and that Michele is his guardian angel. We don't know if the boy is a "wild child" or the victim of an unspeakable crime. Instead of reporting his finding to his overburdened mother (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), or his moody working class father (Dino Abbrescia), he keeps the secret to himself, bringing bread and water to the starving boy and the two develop a mystical bond of friendship.

When Michele finds out the shocking reason that Filippo is in the cave, he discovers the strength within himself to stand up for what he thinks is right even though it leaves him open to potentially damaging consequences. I'm Not Scared does not idealize children and paint all adults as evil. The children can be ruthless in cruelly teasing the weakest members of their group and in selling out to the wrongdoers for trifles, for example, just to sit at the wheel of a car. The adults commit a heinous crime out of the desperation of poverty or for unstated political reasons but their love for their own children is clear. Based on a novel by Niccoló Amminiti, I'm Not Scared is part suspense drama and part coming-of-age story but cannot be neatly categorized. It is has a strange otherworldly and mythical quality to it, like a cinematic dream and the result is not vacuously uplifting but powerfully moving. In discovering the cave where Filippo is hidden, Michele truly discovers a cave "filled with gems and gold".