ma-cortes Perceptible drama filmed with sensitivity and good feeling . Sensational film that dispenses a brooding plot and considered to be one of the best Italian films of the 2000s , in fact was voted one of the best pictures by professionals and critics . Well directed film by Gabriele Salvatores , including a stirring story and screenplay by Niccolò Ammaniti , who tried to create an agreeable flick plenty of sensitivity and metaphor by tackling a description about a bright ten-year-old boy who finds several surprises on his early life . In southern Italy, Michele , a fine little boy , along with his friends visit an old rotten house on the outskirts of their small Italian village . Michelle (Giuseppe Cristiano , director Salvatores interviewed nearly 600 boys for the part , ultimately settling for novice Giuseppe, the son of a Fiat car worker) nearly meets another boy chained in a basement hidden outside his village, but fears to speak of it . Putting together what he learns from television, he starts dealing with the blind boy, his own parents , and a series of unexplained visiting strangers such as Sergio (Diego Abatantuono) , with a high-profile kidnapping that has the entire nation on edge . As Michelle lives with a dysfunctional as well as impoverished family formed by his intimate mother Anna (Aitana Sánchez Gijon) , father Pino (Dino Abbrescia) and brother . Michelle hearing behind doors and he aware horrible happenings . He is so interested in these mysteries that exacerbate his ingenuity and imagination . As Michelle begins to investigate all the secrets of people visit his home , of his family and their stories , but he finds out a terrible conclusion . Who can you trust when everyone's a suspect ? It's a brilliant and touching story although sometimes is slow moving and tiring but is developed with intelligence and sensibility . In the picture are treated ethics and morals themes narrated with great sense of fairness and ductility . This is an intense as well as sensitive drama dealing with a little boy who meets another filthy, incoherent kid locked into a cellar , where is kept prisoner . A coming-of-age tale in which he discovers the sense of life about dark family secrets, friendship and compassion . This slow-moving and intelligent picture is well set in Southern Italy of the 70s . This film was loosely based on a true story of a kidnapped boy from Milan and the novella written about the incident . Enjoyable and thought-provoking picture starred by a phenomenal little actor , Giuseppe Cristiano . Sensitive film full of feeling , haunting mood-pieces , wonderful scenes and sense of wonder . Colorful picture , including marvelous frames , being mostly filmed at Southern Italy and including sunny outdoor scenes . This extraordinary flick spells through intricate patterns of images , sets , sound and color . His style is pretty much dry in the atmosphere as in the fresh dialog , as well as realistic , and including pleasant elements as when the little boy runs on the cereal countryside ."I'm Not Scared" is one of Tornatore's undisputed masterpieces and fundamental in his filmography where shows efficiently an interesting story and shot at the height of his creativity , with some peculiar characters , as the main starring boy , his lovely mummy magnificently performed by the Spanish Aitana Sánchez Gijon and the grudge visitor well played by Diego Abatantuono . Splendid , luxurious photography with juicy atmosphere is reflected on the marvelous outdoors in the country by cameraman Italo Petriccione , Salvatores's usual , being shot on location in Apulia, and Basilicata, Italy . As the film is mainly told from a child's point of view, director Gabriele Salvatores instructed his director of photography Italo Petriccione to shoot most of the film at a child's height. This is a Italian/Spanish co-production perfectly financed by magnificent producers as Spanish Miguel Menéndez de Zubillaga of ¨Piedras¨ , ¨Amnesia¨, ¨Utopia¨ , ¨Camaron¨ as Italian ones such as Maurizio Totti , Stabilini and Riccardo Tozzi . The motion picture was stunningly realized by Gabrielle Salvatores . He was born in 1950, Naples, Campania, location where he often shoots his films . He is a very good Italian movies director ; Tornatore is a well recognized filmmaker both nationally and internationally, and in proof of it he won many prizes in several Festivals . The constant theme of his movies is the escape from the problems of the modern world and the most of his movies include philosophical themes . Almost always casts Diego Abatantuono ; frequently also casts Sergio Rubini . Longtime companion of Rita Rabassini , she's the former wife of Diego Abatantuono, who acted in many of Gabriele's movies and is a close friend . Among his most important films are ¨Nirvana¨ , ¨Amnesia¨ , ¨Educazione ¨Siberiana¨, ¨Marrakech Express¨ ,¨ Quo Vadis baby ¨ , his successful and Oscarized ¨Mediterraneo¨ and of course this ¨I'm not scared¨ . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .

museumofdave The brilliantly sunny wheat fields of Italy are contrasted with a dank, dark hole accidentally discovered by a young boy after his sister loses here eyeglasses; the black hole houses an even darker surprise that affects him with consequences never anticipated.Much more than a simple suspense tale, this evocative immersion in Italian country life depicts a young man grappling with moral issues as simple as peace with his friends and as complex as the integrity of his parents; it dazzles the eye with the color of brilliant orange field flowers, teases the mind with probable outcomes, and satisfies the intellect with puzzles which linger in the mind about the world we build for our children. Highly recommended

conlansean www.film-studies.net In a welcome addition to the list of texts,Leaving Certificate students in Ireland are being given the chance to study "I'm Not Scared" as part of their Comparative Study in English.Michele, a young boy living in the poverty of "Southern Italy 1978" starts to realise that he does not have to behave exactly as others, especially his parents, tell him to do. In the early scenes of the film he discovers in himself a moral sensibility that compels him to rescue a maiden in distress. In doing this he goes against his peers. His main motivation at this point in his life is to stay out of trouble with his parents, so he has to return to the site of this deed to retrieve his sister's glasses, which he had lost. This introduces the theme of seeing clearly which runs through the rest of the film. He discovers a black hole and peers into the darkness. What he sees there comes to act as a symbol for all the fears that children have of the world around and ahead of them. At first there is only horror but gradually Michele sees the beauty beyond that horror as he takes more and more responsibility for what he has found in the darkness. In the end he learns to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, regardless of the commands of his father. The photography and use of colour are remarkable in this film as is the use of point of view which shows the action throughout the story from the perspective of the child. A rich layer of irony covers the narrative as the audience can see many things in the story that Michele fails to notice. Various themes are explored: childhood and adulthood, good and evil, secrets, growing up and developing a conscience inter alia. The imagery is extremely rich and the camera is used as part of that imagery e.g. in the scene in which Michele comes back to the village after falling from his bicycle: the camera-work unites all the people of the village and excludes Michele. The scene then culminates with his father actually banishing him from the community. The varying palette of colours from purple and red flowers, golden corn and blue skies to the grey clouds of the thunderstorm and the darkness of the hole, the kitchen and the night offer much food for thought as the film unfolds. For Leaving Certificate students in Ireland and viewers all over the world this film provides much to think about and savour.

wes-connors In beautiful southern Italy, 1978, sensitive ten-year-old Giuseppe Cristiano (as Michele) plays with his friends, in a hot, deserted area (likely forbidden by their parents). After some bullying games, they leave; then, young Mr. Cristiano goes back to retrieve his little sister's broken glasses. Alone, he discovers a secret door to an underground pit, containing kidnapped Mattia Di Pierro (as Filippo). At first, Cristiano is frightened by the trapped figure. But, he goes back and begins to communicate with the other boy.Living in a hole has driven young Mr. Di Pierro a little crazy. He thinks he must be dead, and Cristiano is his "guardian angel". Eventually, a terrifying secret about Di Pierro brings the kidnapped boy closer and closer to Cristiano… "I'm Not Scared" (in English) features great locations, beautifully photographed and directed by Italo Petriccione and Gabriele Salvatores. The collaborators are certainly up to their award-winning "Mediterraneo" (1991). On the down side, Mr. Salvatores allows "Io non ho paura" to lose itself in slumbering artiness when it could be both beautiful and (more) suspenseful. Not showing "learned" acting, Cristiano and the natural young performers are outstanding.******* Io non ho paura (2/8/03) Gabriele Salvatores ~ Giuseppe Cristiano, Mattia Di Pierro, Diego Abatantuono, Dino Abbrescia