Tag: Italy

Historic tale recounts pope’s abduction of Jewish boy

Edgardo (Enea Sala, left) receives a Catholic education after being abducted from his Jewish family in 1858. (Photos courtesy of Cohen Media Group)

By Richard Ades

Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara relates the true story of a young Jewish boy who was taken from his parents so he could be converted to Christianity.

It’s a disturbing tale, but you may also find it a bit confusing unless you know something about Italian history. It also helps if you have a little patience.

Veteran director Marco Bellocchio takes his time unfolding the account of 6-year-old Edgardo Mortara, who is seized from his Bologna home in 1858 after Catholic officials learn he’d been secretly baptized as a baby. According to law, as the local “inquisitor” explains to the parents, he therefore must be raised as a Christian.

The boy’s father and mother, Salomone and Marianna (Fausto Russo Alesi and Barbara Ronchi), are shocked, as they know nothing about the baptism. They beg the official not to take their son, but their pleas only win them a 24-hour reprieve. After that, Edgardo (Enea Sala) is whisked away to Rome and enrolled in a school along with other boys who are training to become Catholic.

A distraught Marianna Mortara is allowed to visit her son (Enea Sala) months after he was abducted by Catholic officials.

In the months and years that follow, Salomone and Marianna do everything they can to reverse the church’s decision, including appealing their case to the press. But their efforts are stymied by Pope Pius IX (Paolo Pierobon), who takes a personal interest in the boy and refuses to give him up even after the abduction arouses international condemnation.

Director/co-scripter Bellocchio and most of his cast treat the tragic events with solemn restraint. Maybe a little too much restraint, as much of the film is weighed down by its own seriousness. There are effective scenes here and there, but the only actor who routinely shakes things up is Pierobon as the blustery and bullying Pius IX.

Another problem is that the script assumes the audience understands the complicated political atmosphere in which Edgardo’s ordeal is unfolding. In a much-simplified nutshell: Pius IX was in office at a time when Italians were rebelling against the pope’s power, which included controlling Rome and other parts of the country that were known as the Papal States. It all came to a head in 1871, when Italian troops captured Rome from the pope’s forces and unified Italy under one banner.  

Pope Pius IX (Paolo Pierobon) refuses to give up Edgardo (Enea Sala) even though the boy’s abduction has been greeted with international condemnation.

Unfortunately for those who aren’t knowledgeable about that history, Bellocchio skims over most of this in order to keep the focus on Edgardo, who by this time has grown into a young adult (played by Leonardo Maltese). It’s an understandable decision, but one that will leave many viewers confused about what’s really going on.

Kidnapped is about an act of official antisemitism that had an effect far beyond one Jewish individual and his family. As such, it has intrinsic interest, but the film would have had more impact if Bellocchio had imbued it with a bit more history and a bit less restraint.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara opened May 24 in New York and Los Angeles and expands to additional cities beginning May 31. It will open in Columbus June 7 at the Gateway Film Center.

Young migrants’ journey turns into nightmare

Seydou (Seydou Sarr, center) and other migrants crowd into a boat that they hope will take them to Italy. (Photos courtesy of Cohen Media Group)

By Richard Ades

In this presidential election year, it’s easy to forget that migrants are not merely a campaign issue. They’re also desperate people who sometimes take unimaginable risks in their search for a better life.

One such person is at the center of Io Capitano (“I Captain”), the Italian nominee for this year’s International Feature Film Oscar. Directed and co-written by Matteo Garrone (2008’s Gomorrah), it’s the story of Seydou (Seydou Sarr), a 16-year-old Senegalese musician who believes he can become a superstar if only he and his cousin Moussa can find their way to Italy.   

The youths’ optimism is challenged when a local elder warns them the trip will be risky, and that even if they get to Europe, they’ll find it’s far from a paradise. His words nearly scare Seydou into abandoning the journey, but then Moussa (Moustapha Fall) reminds him of the fame that hopefully awaits them in Europe.   

“White people will be asking for your autograph,” the cousin predicts.

So, after seeking guidance from a neighborhood mystic, they set off, only to learn that the elder’s warnings were all too accurate. Soon they’re dealing with bribe-seeking officials, unreliable guides, desert heat and much worse in a journey that begins to resemble Dante’s descent into hell.

African migrants are forced to cross the Sahara Desert on foot in a scene from Io Capitano.

Worst of all, they’re eventually separated, leaving Seydou to continue on his own. Will the teen, who had to be coaxed into taking the trip, be up to the task? Will he even have the chance to go on, or has his luck run out?  

Garrone’s film begins as a warmhearted celebration of Senegalese culture before evolving into a terrifying depiction of the hazards that await would-be migrants such as Seydou and Moussa. Whether any of them succeeds, it seems, depends on a mixture of strength, grit and just plain luck.

Leading a uniformly good cast, Sarr turns the kind-hearted Seydou into a likable, root-worthy protagonist. Behind the scenes, cinematographer Paolo Carnera supplies images that are striking whether they depict a Senegalese dance or a forced march through the Sahara Desert.

Io Capitano goes a bit overboard toward the end by allowing its drama to escalate into hectic melodrama. Otherwise, it’s a moving depiction of a search for a better life that morphs into a fight for survival.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Io Capitano opens in select cities Feb. 23 and expands to other theaters in the following weeks, including Columbus’s Gateway Film Center on March 1.