El secuestro del Papa

Seen at NYFF61.

As with "The Traitor", another broad-brush panorama of a changing world, Marco Bellocchio's political sympathies are not hidden, but the dilemmas and perplexities facing his characters can often be oversimplified. Here in "Kidnapped", he recounts a shameful episode in the waning days of Papal secular power prior to the unification of the Italian state, in which a 6-year-old Jewish boy is ordered by the authorities (they of the "Holy Office" of Inquisition infamy) to be yanked from the arms of his parents because of an alleged furtive and illicit baptism performed when his was an infant, making him a Christian who, for the protection of his immortal soul, could no longer be raised in a Jewish family. He is taken to Rome, to be raised in an institution for converted boys destined for the priesthood, while his case becomes an international scandal, seized upon by anti-clerical circles throughout Europe and beyond, to the immense irritation of the Pope and the Curia.

The notion of dogma is central to Bellocchio's account (he co-wrote the screenplay), with those of both the Church and of the Jewish community leaving the boy, Edgardo, yanked between the two, emotionally crippled. (To be sure we get the point, Edgardo innocently recites a rote definition of the word during a visit by the Pope.) And the annexation of the Papal States by the anti-clerical Kingdom of Italy, which should have brushed aside religious impediments to the by-then young adult Edgardo's resumption of a relationship with his family, also fails the cause of secularization and human agency through the intercession of the dead hand of yet another dogma, this one of the secular-legal kind. Any chances of putting aside impediments to loving human relationships are thus dashed.

The narration is uneven and at times a bit paint-by-numbers, but the screenplay, while over-the-top is some places, elsewhere shows self-restraint, for example in not seeking to caricature Edgardo's treatment at the hands of the Church as brutal (beyond, of course, the brutality of the kidnapping itself and of the ongoing separation from his family). While clearly putting institutional self-interest first, the priests and nuns are shown as acting with kindness and even a form of love for the boys in their care. Despite moments of rebellion, Edgardo is shown as being irrevocably absorbed into their world, even as change swirls all around them. The psychological evolution here might have been treated with greater precision and subtlety, but Bellocchio in the end makes his point, which I take to be that there is no going back on the forces that shape us, however perverse.

Visually, the film is a treat. Bellocchio, the well-named "beautiful eye", treats us to color-saturated, painterly sequences - some of the interior shots seem downright, if self-consciously, Vermeerish. And Bellocchio has always a gift for casting - "Kidnapped" may in the end be worth watching just for the tremendous performance of Paolo Pierobon as Pius IX, the last Pope to reign over the Papal States, whose bone-headed, unflinching self-certitude (it was he who formalized the doctrine of papal infallibility even as his political actions demonstrated its opposite) served as an accelerant of his ultimate downfall. (Pierobon's physical resemblance, in different ways, to both the late John-Paul II and Benedict XVI is surely not accidental.) So many other, smaller roles, are ideally taken and vividly portrayed. Like "The Traitor", this is very much an ensemble performance, and all the finer for it.

"Kidnapped" is an honorable effort to grapple with a complex subject, and even if it settles in the end for some facile exposition, it is well worth seeing. At a time when so many films are so narrowly focused, often hermetically so, on issues of self-realization and personal relationships, it's nice to see a project with some ambition and scope, even one that, as here, doesn't completely meet its promise.

Based on a bizarre true story, this follows the tale of the young Edgardo Sala who was living quite happily with his Jewish parents and siblings in Bologna until an official arrives one evening to tell them he is to be removed from their care. Why? It appears that many years earlier when he was in his cradle, he has been baptised and so must therefore be looked after by the church. Despite their appeals and protestations, he is swiftly taken to Rome where he is enrolled in a Catholic school where his is pretty thoroughly indoctrinated into the ways of his new Church - even becoming of special interest to Pope Pius IX (Paolo Pierobon). The story really centres around the trial many year later of the Papal Officer Feletti (Fabrizio Gifuni) after the city had become part of the Italian Kingdom, and those proceedings are used to fill in some of the backstory and to test the theories of responsibility of actions done in the name of the State. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the young man grows up to become conflicted - his love of Jesus struggles with his love of family and of the Talmud that was so important to him as a child. What I didn't really understand was just why the Pope would ever been at all interested in the fate of a small Jewish lad when the Papal States were in permanent decline, but Marco Bellochio uses a solid cast and a sparing, but frequently impassioned, amount of dialogue to deliver a stylishly made intrigue that show the last vestiges of the once all-powerful Papacy and of the inconsequential hopes of a family and a small boy.

Now here's a story that's set some time in the past, although it's not that long ago and it might leave you quite aghast, as a child is abducted by a dogma in sheep's clothing, it will leave you disenfranchised with feelings of hate and loathing; now the outcome isn't pretty but you may learn something new, about conditioning by others that impacted how you grew, the brainwashing and persuasion - indoctrination, education, that was planted in your mind before you fledged, matured and grew; but there's one thing that won't come as a surprise or revelation, that there's masons, cults and cliques that will lead you to damnation, they control the lives of others, keep their secrets under covers, once their hooks have found their mark, you'll get accustomed to prostration.

Kidnapping is a crime, and so is "Kidnapped".

Truly astonishing how a truly astonishing story translates into a truly astonishing piece of passable cinema on the big screen. A young Jewish boy, secretly baptized into the Catholic faith by his babysitter, is abducted from his family under religious rule. Crazy, but this is 1857 Bologna, 1857 Italy, and 1857 Pope.

The film is presented in grand oil painting style, with golden lighting, velvety robes a flowing, and evil lurking in the shadows. Looks great. Plays, not so much. Hard to imagine a juicier topic handled with such a soft touch. Everyone involved seems detached of real emotion, instead relying on business like restraint, especially in what should be an inflammatory kidnapping scene. Weird.

The set up is tantalizing enough to give hope, but steam is lost quickly as "Kidnapped" starts to spin its wheels while going nowhere slow.

A tale as such, and it is a true one, begs for a grand, epic treatment, where religion, country and family come together in a clash of Biblical proportions. Instead we get an educational history lesson with easily forgettable characters.

• hipCRANK.

Marco Bellocchio has made some interesting movies in the past like "Fists in the Pockets" and "The Traitor" which I have enjoyed. This movie focuses on the Mortara case and the controversial aspects behind the Catholic Church which are complex yet interesting subjects to learn about. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't really do justice to it's concept and it was underwhelming.

Throughout, the production and costumes are pretty good as they help to capture the environment and time period of the old times. Bellocchio's direction is pretty solid as Bellocchio does offer his talents on showing the themes of political power, religion corruption, and secularism within the historical context. The narrative, unfortunately, does feel as impactful as Bellocchio hoped for as the narrative, while does have some interesting ideas, it felt mostly too standard and too bland that it made the movie pretty difficult to fully connect with emotionally. Around the first 35 minutes of the movie was pretty interesting but then the movie struggles to keep heads up high which creates the narrative further dull.

The performances from the cast members were a mix of good and bad with some of the performances like Barbara Ronchi were good but the others were either bland or pretty wooden as it felt like some kind of poor television movie at times. The child performance wasn't great either. Some of the dialogue moments were pretty bad and the characters weren't interesting which I struggled to fully connect with them.

There are some good soundtrack moments, some of the pacing could improve and some of the editing was pretty bad. There were some serious moments that were meant to be emotional, gut-wrenching and sad but it ended up accidentally being unintentionally hilarious at times. Good atmosphere at least.

Undeniably, Bellocchio is definitely offering some of his talents within this movie but as a whole, it was mostly really mid and not something I would see again from his works.