Marcelino pan y vino

A film for ever in my brain. Not a bad thing for a film. I saw it for the first time when I was 8 and stayed with me always. I'm amused by some of the comments leveling this beautiful tale as "sick" and "twisted". I imagine it's the power of goodness that usually provokes more outcries than the power of evil. The film is what it is, no disguises to send its message as in Forrest Gump for instance. The film is a masterpiece no matter how you look at it and Pablito Calvo, the Marcelino at the center of it all, gives a performance that goes beyond any performance of any child actor has gone before.

Wow, this was stunning, both in photography and in content. Here's a nice, old-fashioned "religious story" you rarely see anymore. The English title goes under "The Miracle Of Marcelino."

It's a simple tale of a group of monks who discover a baby at their monastery doorstep one morning and then raise the boy. They try to find suitable parents for the infant but are unsuccessful. The infant scenes don't run too long because, before you know it, they have fast-forwarded it to when the boy was six years of age....and that's where he stays until the end of the film.

Pablito Calvo as the title character, Marcelino," is excellent. Kudos to cinematographer Heinrich Gartner for beautiful black-and-white photography. The DVD transfer was outstanding, too. The lighting, particularly on faces, is terrific.

Other reviewers here at IMDb, such as Albert Sanchez Moreno, have described the story nicely. I will just add I found it oddly captivating the entire way and very touching and moving in the last 20 minutes or so, after the boy discovers the big statue of Christ and begins communicating with Him. Yeah, I'm sure it looks really far-fetched to almost everyone, especially non-Believers, but I enjoyed and marveled at the end of this film.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the monks in here and why they would "warn" the young boy against going up in the attic, where the statue is located, unless they somehow supernaturally knew what was going to happen.....yet they still should have put their trust in Christ, anyway. Their actions are puzzling at times. There is a real mystery to this story overall, anyway. Not being Catholic, maybe I missed something in the translation. This is a very "Catholic" film but a Christ-believing Protestant as I am can still fully appreciate this story, too, as much as anyone, and I did.

You'll never find this at a rental store but those you are curious, you might want to add it to your queue if you belong to one of those mail-in rental programs. This film was a collaboration of Spanish and Italian filmmakers, I think. There was a color re-make in the early '90s, but I haven't seen it.

It's a film of tender "innocence" like few I've ever seen, which makes it very memorable.

A baby loses his parents and is left at the door to a monastery. The monks take him in and he grows into a mischievous but essentially good little boy. One day he sneaks into the attic and sees a life-sized image of Jesus on the cross...

For pre-teens and younger, a parent should probably watch it with them, since some children will be disturbed by the ending. With understanding, this film helps the viewer to grow a little in faith, hope and love.

... well, that is all I really wanted to say, but IMDb now requires ten lines of text for a review. I noticed the early reviews of Marcelino were extremely negative. If you have a lot of anger towards Christ or the Church, you will *not* like this film since it shows different types of people turning their hearts towards Jesus to varying degrees. This is not sinister propaganda, but the way the world really is. Christians are not the monsters you imagine them to be. If the Nazis *had* made films like this, as one reviewer suggested, instead of the inspirations to resentment and violence they actually did make, the world might have been a better place. Peace to all.

My Dad loved this film My Dad lost his parents and sister in the same month when he was just 5 years old

I don't know if that is why he has almost a reverence for this movie, but he always would look through the channels and the tv guide to find out if it would be airing during the Christmas season. Dad passed away just about a week before Christmas in 2002. He was 81 Each year as Christmas approaches, I find myself looking through the channels and the tv listings to find out if it will be airing during the Christmas season. The actor playing Marcelino did an amazing job expressing innocence, wonder, and an inner sadness when remembering his Mom who he never really got a chance to know. The cinematography...angles, vistas etc. are top notch. The short scenes make the film seem almost dreamlike, jumping from one short poignant topic to the other. The simple, peaceful presentation contrasts to a lot of other films which scream at you to keep you paying attention. This film does not need to do that. Next December, I will find myself scanning the channels and looking through the tv listings.....

After 49 years, the memory of seeing this movie remains very fresh. Because, you see, I was the English voice of Marcellino in the dubbed version of "Marcellino Pan y Vino" that was, from the comments I've read, shown in just about every Catholic school in North America. Back in 1958, my parents and I were living in Rome, Italy--my dad was stationed at the American Embassy. I was about 8 years old. My mother saw an ad in the American newspaper looking for English-speaking voices to dub in the dialog in European-made movies slated for export. We went to the famous Cinecitta' studios, I auditioned, and got the job. "Marcellino" was the second or third movie I did. From what I recall, it took a couple of days to do, and I was only allowed to see the scenes that I actually had lines in, and they weren't many, when you come right down to it. I stood on a platform before a lectern in a very large studio facing a screen and microphone. I had to stand on a box to reach the microphone and read the script. I got a lot of coaching and we did dozens of takes. I don't know if they ever used the work I did, but I was there and I got paid--or my mother received the money. I only saw the movie once with the English dubbing just a few years ago--never saw it in school and never really mentioned it to anybody because I thought no one would believe me or be interested. I just purchased the DVD but it's only Spanish with English subtitles. Does anyone know where I can get the English dubbed version?