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Kidnapped | Italian Auteurs | St. ALi Italian Film Festival 2023

KIDNAPPED (Rapito), 2023

 

iff

 

2023 | 134 MIN | HISTORICAL DRAMA | ITALY, FRANCE, GERMANY
CAST: Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Enea Sala, Leonardo Maltese, Filippo Timi, Fabrizio Gifuni
LANGUAGE: Italian, Hebrew with English subtitles

Based on incredible true events, this gripping historical drama from master auteur Marco Bellocchio (The Traitor IFF20, Vincere IFF09) follows the story of a young boy whose abduction from his parents by the Vatican fuelled outrage in 19th Century Italy and triggered a global scandal.

1858, the Jewish quarter of Bologna. The Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the bourgeois Mortara family: by order of the cardinal (Filippo Timi, also in The Eight Mountains). Unbeknownst to his parents, Edgardo was secretly baptised by his nurse as a baby, so they have come to take six-yearold Edgardo to Rome to receive a Catholic education as per papal law.

Seven-time winner at the 2023 Nastri D’Argento Awards, Bellochio’s powerful and operatic new film probes historical antisemitism and the arbitrary exercises of influence by the pre-unification Church. Since its lauded Cannes debut, Kidnapped has reignited debate in Italy, where the actions of Pope Pius IX – who was beatified in the year 2000 – have never been officially condemned.

 

“Bellocchio has created a gripping, heartbreaking true-political crime story from the pages of history.”

– The Guardian

 

DIRECTOR: Marco Bellocchio

With a prolific 50-year career, Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor Marco Bellocchio is known for The Traitor (IFF20), Good Morning, Night (2003), Vincere (2009) and Fists in the Pocket (1965). In 2011, Bellocchio was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice International Film Festival.

 

 

Reservation no longer available

  • Organized by: St. ALi Italian Film Festival
  • In collaboration with: Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Melbourne