I'M Not Scared

Jeffrey Rivet

"I'M NOT SCARED"

DIRECTOR:

Gabriel Salvatores:

Salvatores, A Writer, actor, and director. Born on July 30th, 1950 In naples. He moved to Milan and started his career as a theatre director in 1972. For most of the 70's and the 80's he directed everything that was shown at Elf's Theater. His popularity among italians was growing immensely. His style of directing was classified as Avant Garde or "cutting edge". A style that i think he has continued to use today.

As a director his career consist of 14 major productions and his big break through wasn't until 1989, when he directed the "Marrakech Express" . From there he directed several other hits such as "Turne" (1990), "Mediterreaneo" (1991), "Denti"(2000), "Amnesia"(2002), and of course "I'm not Scared"(2003).

As a Writer, he wrote 6 out of the 14 movies that he directed. And they all did very well in the box office.

he has won several awards and has been nominated several times as well, including his oscar for best foreign film "Mediterreaneo", he has written and directed his way into the hearts of many people and after watching "I'm not scared" i consider him one of my favorite directors of today.

"I'm not scared" Won 2 awards (the silver ribbon and david of the youth) and was nominated for 3 other awards (David, Bodil, and the golden berlin bear) the movie is based of the bestseller novel from Niccolo Ammaniti published in 2001. It seems odd that Salvatores would direct such a movie because his movies often deal with themes of disillusionment, escape from reality, Utopian ideologies, and generational identity.

The articles About salvatores directing this film suggest that in many ways Salvatores film recalls Carlo Carlie's "flight of the Innocent" which also is about a kidnapping of a child. Flight of the Innocent suffered from visual and sentimental overkill while in "I'm not scared" the emotions struggle to emerge, less due to salvatores aesthetics than to his tendency to favor head over heart.

Plot:

the movie 1978, South Italy, during the hottest summer of the century. While playing in the countryside, ten-year-old Michele discovers Filippo, a boy chained to the ground at the bottom of a hole, being held for ransom. Filippo is confused and apathetic, and talks very little. The kidnappers have told him that he is dead and he believes it. Filippo appears to suffer from cotard delusion. He has been kept in the dark for months and therefore cannot stand much light now. Michele visits him regularly, and brings him water and bread, and once takes a walk with him outside, after which he brings him back to the hole. All the time he tells no one about Filippo.

Michele witnesses Felice a sinister man from town, nearby and suspects he has something to do with the kidnapping. Michele is unsure whom he should tell about his discovery, eventually spilling the beans to his closest friend in return for a toy car. The friend then tells Felice in return for a drive in a real one. Michele's parents learn of his discovery and, since they are involved, warn him to forget whatever he saw.

Filippo is moved to a cave, so Michele can't visit him. One night Michele overhears plans to kill Filippo. He manages to find and free him, but is then shot by his father, who mistook his son for Fillipo. The police arrive by helicopter and while michele dies in his father's hands.

Characters:

Michele:

A 9 year old boy who one day after playing child games at what seemed to be an abandoned house finds flippo, a kidnapped boy in a hole outside the house. This leads to series of events between him and his parents that signal the end of michele's boyhood and take a role of a grown up. he is also the narrator who skilfully tells his story, taking us into the mind of a nine-year-old. His fears are enunciated and represent the fears of most children.

It is a mark of Michele's nature that he comes to terms with these fears in his own way. He outlines his intricate story of luring the "gypsies, fox-like creatures that walked on hens' feet" and all the others onto a bus. He then only has to hold his hands on his stomach and he won't have nightmares. his nightmares shift to the reality of his own living world. His loss of innocence and world of betrayals are distressing and difficult lessons.

Having lost trust in the adults around him, Michele must look within for moral direction. It is the heroic actions of this pre-teen in conquering his fears in order to save the life of Filippo that sets him apart from others in the movie..

Flippo:

he