Io Non Ho Paura Film Critique

Film Critique/ Analysis #7

Michael Atkinson

Cinema 28

A Hypnotic and Captivating Story

Gabriele Salvatores directs a mind-blowing hypnotic film entitled, Io Non Ho Paura (2004) - or translated,  I’m Not Scared. In this chilling Italian tale of childhood innocence turned upside down, a ten year old Michele is enjoying his summer break to the full. The story is set in a small town in southern Italy, where one afternoon, Michele finds a pit and when he looks inside he sees a foot sticking out from a blanket. He returns to the pit another time later, opening it to find a chained boy named Filippo. In his world of childhood innocence, Michele befriends the boy, letting him become his own secret. 

Giuseppe Cristiano, who plays Michele, does an excellent portrayal of a young boy far too curious to be scared of the situation. In his mind, he doesn’t think to tell anyone about the boy he has found and doesn’t give it much thought that perhaps the situation is odd or even illegal. Instead, relying on innocence, he chooses to help accustom Filippo to the outside world; playing with him in the fields and riding him on his bike until night falls and it’s time for Michele to go home. This film was able to capture one’s attention with the crime of keeping a boy locked up and then holding onto that attention as Michele’s innocence is slowly dissolved. As the two boys learn more about each other, Michele discovers a teapot in the pit, matching the ones in his home. In this dramatic twist, Salvatores keeps the audience’s attention by pulling them on this captivating journey about how an accidental discovery by Michele soon makes him distrust the ones he loves. Rather than just make this a regular horror film, Salvatores chooses a more difficult route by thrilling the audience rather than scare them.

Furthermore, in order to capture this eventual loss of innocence, Salvatores uses a phenomenal expression of Michele’s moral awakening using intense colors, wide-angle shots and unforgiving close-ups. Many of the shots are done exterior using the wide fields of Italy as a backdrop. The colors used in each of these shots show the warmth and beauty that comes naturally in this setting as the serenity is felt even through the screen. The wide shots show the expanse of the locations to the full making it seem like the fields just go on forever. In contrast, the characters are shown small juxtaposing to the vast background portraying the fact that their own childhood lives are menial compared to the big world that lies around them. In every shot, one can see the emotional and physical depth Salvatores used in order to make this film.

As the film progresses, it stays with Michele’s point of view the entire time, letting one learn what happens as he does. Instead of taking an objective point of view that would leave one pitying Michele, Salvatores uses him to his advantage in a brilliant way by thrusting him into the cruel and real world all in the course of one summer. This is truly one captivating tale that is impossible to ever forget, even years to come.