Set in parched, impoverished Southern Italy in 1978, Gabriele Salvatores' adaptation of Niccolo Ammaniti's literary coming-of-age thriller seethes with a potent sense of restrained but poisonous menace. Ten-year-old Michele Amitrana's (Giuseppe Cristiano) world is a small one: A cluster of sun-baked houses optimistically called Acqua Traverse, miles from the nearest real town, and five families whose isolation is relieved only by the occasional visit from a traveling peddler. Michele's mother (Aitana Sanchez-Giton) struggles to make ends meet while her husband, Pino (Dino Abbrescia), is absent for months on end, scrounging for work in more prosperous regions. Michele...
Released:
2003
Rated:
R
Length:
101 mins