Io non ho paura

I am not scared (directed by Gabriele Salvatores, based on the novel by Niccolo Ammaniti):

Rating 10/10

This one is brillaint, touching and well, purely Italian. Set in Southern Italy in 1978, the story is about a small Italian village inhabited by only a few families. The story starts off with some of the village kids playing around a deserted house. One of the kids happens to come across a covered hole in the ground. When he lifts the cover off the hole, he sees a tiny leg in a corner. Shocked, he runs away. But the image of the leg lingers in his mind, and he duly returns the next day. This time he throws a rock near the leg, nothing happens. He turns around to pick up another rock but when he turns back, the rock is gone and so is the leg. As the boy peers his face into the hole, he is shocked to find a pale white boy come in front of him. Horrified, he runs away again. Who is the boy in the hole? The movie unfolds the story slowly yet beautifully.

Watching the movie, one can sense how the film will end, but Salvatores manages to hold our attention. Io Non Ho Paura is not at the same level as Salvatores's 1991 award winning Mediterraneo but is still a very good movie.