I'm Not Scared   

Michele: Giuseppe Cristiano

Anna: Aitana Sanchez-Gijon

Pino: Dino Abbrescia

Filippo: Mattia Di Pierro

Sergio: Diego Abatantuono

Directed by Gabriele Salvatores

Screenplay by Niccolo Ammaniti and Francesca Marciano

Based on the Novel by Niccolo Ammaniti

A lot of the things that define a person are established early on during childhood.  The way kids handle certain problems or dilemmas at a young age can impact the type of adult they will eventually become.  In I'm Not Scared, young Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) makes a startling discovery that forces him to grow up fast by making some tough and important decisions about what he has found.

The film opens with Michele and a group of friends racing to an abandoned house through the wheat fields that surround their village.  As they are leaving, he must return by himself to retrieve his sister's glasses, which leads him to the discovery of a covered hole where he sees a foot lying at the bottom.  His curiosity keeps bringing him back until he discovers the foot belongs to a young boy trapped at the bottom.  His instincts take over and he starts to bring him water and food without telling anyone about it.

He soon learns that it would be unwise to tell anyone because his dad, along with others in the small village and elsewhere, are responsible for the kidnapping.  Thus, his loyalties to his family and his moral sense of common decency conflict as he tries to decide what to do about the boy, Filippo, he soon befriends. 

I'm not real big on praising child actors, but I think Cristiano does a good job portraying Michele.  He has the right sense of the inquisitiveness you would expect from a boy his age, as well as the fear that would come from finding anyone trapped in a hole in the ground.  Whether this is acting or simply being himself is unimportant because it is highly effective. 

I'm Not Scared is directed by Gabriele Salvatores, and while the film isn't the thriller that I have seen a lot of previews claiming it to be, he does create some perfectly tense moments as Michele finds Filippo and tries to surreptitiously help him as much as he can.  Also, there are beautiful shots of the wheat fields covering this part of the Italian countryside and the mood he creates for the film moves from idyllic in the beginning to uneasy, tense, and apprehensive.  The freedom of childhood has been replaced by the horrors of adulthood.

I'm Not Scared is a wonderful coming-of-age story.  A young boy is faced with a situation that makes him act instinctively at first.  As he learns the role of his father, he is forced to decide how to act as the people he trusts most are the ones culpable.  He soon realizes that there are some people you can trust and some you can't, even amongst your closest friends.  The film wraps up nicely and unexpectedly, as Michele makes one last effort to try to save Filippo.  The boy has become a man.  Is his new status that enviable?