La pivellina

Contrary to what the synopsis says, when the abandoned child is found (and that happens in the first 5 minutes of the movie), no effort at all is made by the circus woman (or by anyone else) to find the child's mother. That's of course a wasted opportunity, because it would have made an interesting starting point. Instead, she and the others simply keep the child more or less as any parent would do, with the movie going nowhere for more than one hour and a half. The cute little child is funny at times (as are most children that aren't spoiled), but the film is utterly lacking in story, acting, directing and photography. There are a million ways to use 100 minutes of your free time, so I'd suggest you avoid this at all costs.

I really enjoyed this film, which I watched on Netflix, despite the crude cinematography (there are about ten long sequences of people's backs as they walk through parks, housing developments, streets, woods). Small children aren't allowed to act for more than five minutes at a time in the U.S. (child labor laws, though I'm probably exaggerating) and watching this baby acquire language among poor but delightful people was simply charming. But beware that the film is its own pleasure in the Zen sense, and I feel that that was a bad decision. A dark fear hangs over it and the viewer is owed an ending. We go through a lot with these people and find out more about the 14-year-old son and how he reacted to the divorce at the end -- but the film wasn't about him. Why don't we learn who the toddler's mother was and why she left? Come on. Show that you can finish a story.

There are popular films for mainstream audiences which suit those with short attention span needs and there are the gems that inspire and engage the filmophile looking for character driven films with a quality of real life acting (usually foreign directors). This is a beautiful film. How these directors ever managed to shoot this film is beyond me. They captured the behavior of this little child so wonderfully. Its a real study of an intimate lifestyle somewhere in the outskirts of Rome during a typical winter, an emotional story of people on the margins of society and how they rescue and then bond with this little girl. Its a treasure of a film and your heart and soul will be uplifted by the story and the nature of the screenplay. The ending is really poignant. It won awards at Cannes and quite rightly so. Its hard to get it on DVD as the directors preferred to have it shown at festivals. Simply adorable. I cant think of any aspect that fails to engage the viewer.

I've heard from someone that this movie was a hidden gem. At the screening, the theatre was maybe about half full, probably not even. But there's definitely something about the movie that I simply cannot let go. The feeling lingers. The movie is actually not about the two-year old baby, but it's about the people who live in the trailers. There's no acute dramatic elements in this film but it leaves you with a subtle melancholy. The audience is exposed again and again to their substandard yet noble way of life and the presence of the two-year old baby merely accentuates it. The characters seem at ease with their trailer lives but what makes them really noble is that they do not want that kind of lives for the children. Their compassion is evident throughout the movie and that's what makes the movie so touching. The ending leaves you a little bewildered at first. But it does make sense because the movie is about the people who live in the trailer park and not really about the baby. The movie definitely goes slow but it's worth a watch.

One fine day a woman is walking through a park, calling out for her missing dog. She's about to give up and go home without the dog when she spots a 2 year old girl, left alone. Being a responsible person she takes the kid home to her trailer so she stays warm while she and her husband search for the kids parents.

And so starts a warm loving tale where two people that have little to share do the right thing and share anyway - just because they can and just because they know they have to. The way they take the kid into their lives and go on with their ways and try to incorporate her into that pattern is just heart warming. The film rolls on like a slow wave and keeps on going steadily for the whole length of it. The characters are played out entirely believable and they make everything fit together.

At the end of it you can only feel love for the couple and hope for the best - at whatever cost. It feels right, it is right. So, all in all, a feel good film with a good solid hint of tragedy and even a small bit of tension, very nicely played, amazingly set and completely lovable.

9 out of 10 right choices