Les enfants volés

The story of a young carabiniere that has been assigned the job to escort a couple of minors from Milan to their native Sicily. Stops along the way include the riviera (around Genova or Livorno), Rome, Calabria. Travel is done by train and by car. We see segments of italy in their socio-economic regional realities. The folks in Calabria are seen living next to a busy road in a house with no stucco covering the bare bricks, a common tactic used in the south to qualify for a taxation exemption (being the house not completed). Smartly filmed, it candidly reveals an Italy closer to what natives struggling to make a living would experience in having to travel along the length of the Italian booth. This is a fictional movie, but there is an effort to make evident how realistically people live today.

This is one of the best films of all time. The story is heartbreaking: an 11 year-old girl has been forced into prostitution by her mother. When the police arrest the mother, Rosetta and her little brother Luciano (who is 9) must be taken to a children's home in the south of Italy. A young Carabiniere named Antonio is assigned the task of taking them from Milan to Sicilly, even though he's barely more than a child himself. The journey takes this mismatched threesome to Antonio's home province, where he re-unites briefly with his sister and his old granny, before Rosetta is recognized from a magazine cover, and shunned. The growing tenderness among the three young people is the essence of the story. The girl, although only 11, conveys the bitterness of adulthood through her ineffably sad eyes. She knows so much more about life than her 19 year-old policeman, yet without any seedy sexual implications, he comes to teach her through his tender care that there's more to life than sorrow. Luciano is a beautiful child, whose adoration of the soldier/cop is delicately and warmly depicted. Only The 400 Blows and Forbidden Games have captured the ache of childhood as well. The director has used stunning compositions and lingering takes of the Italian countryside that make the story resonate beyond its intimate canvas. The acting is brilliant. I suppose the only reason this film has not been released on DVD is it's controversial subject matter, which is a shame, because that shunning is what the film is about. The Italian title is Il Ladro di Bambini. Don't miss it!

This movie is the story of a journey, a common theme among movie-makers. In this film a policeman is charged with the transfer of two children (aged 11 and 9)from Milano to a Home for Children in Sicily. It is based on a newspaper report which gives authenticity to the story. Remarkable performances are given by the children who amazingly have had no previous experience in film-acting. Eye contact between the main characters is particularly powerful. The policeman also acts convincingly. He finds the resentful children a difficult pair to control. The 11-year old has a secret(about her life of prostitution) and her young brother is an asthmatic sadly in need of his father who has abandoned them. There are some tender scenes in the film where the policeman introduces the children to his happy extended family, where the policeman gives the boy some swimming lessons in the sea and where they agree to find each other when the boy leaves the Home at 15 years of age. A simple theme but so enthralling.

Amelio and Enrico lo Verso compenetrate perfectly. I believe is one of the most humanistic movies I have seen in a long time. The performance of the actors is great and the story is simple but very powerful. There is beautiful line that can be seen how the Enrico and the kids gel along the, movie and it is very interesting.

As another person said and I agree, it is one of the best child performances I have ever seen. Excellent.

I saw this movie almost ten years ago, and once or twice since then on TV, and I have never forgotten it. It is both heartbreaking and uplifting, sensitively directed and beautifully performed. The relationship between the young carabiniere and the two children he's escorting evolves so quietly and naturally that it never seems forced, as relationships so often seem in movies. I hesitate to cite specific scenes for fear of spoilage, but there is one moment in particular, when Antonio and young Luciano are swimming in the ocean, that perfectly illustrates the growing trust between them. The scene is quite simply breathtaking.

I wish this movie were available on DVD, because it deserves to be seen by more people. I would add it to my collection in a heartbeat if I could. Instead, I can only hope that some local theater or art museum will screen it someday as part of a film festival.

A truly unforgettable movie.