Sicilian Ghost Story

Poetic, bitter, mixing fairy tale atmosphere and slices of captivity, using the eyes of young actors, the gestures of adults, the map of teenager world as lead ingredients of a touchinng, impressive film about a victim and about a love story and about Mafia. A film giving not exactly a pledge or a portrait of crime. But wise picture of fall. About cruelty , about vulnerability, about silence, about dreams. Nothing new. But useful. Maybe, for the right manner to say a profound dark truth.

This movie reminded me of Pan's Labyrinth. Few films show children trying to cope with the loss of a loved one, it was interesting to see how they differ from adults. The cinematography and acting were top notch. I am obsessed with the song "Stay With Me" from the soundtrack by Soap&Skin. The movie stays with you long after the credits have finished rolling.

A slow pacing story, that some have connected to other movies that are very spiritual and have class. This one really tells a great story with a lot of suspense. And I'm not going into it, because while it isn't really a lot of story going on, it is the subtext. But also the coming of age part of it. It is the mystery, it is the youthfulness, it is the fantasy aspect of it.

Don't expect this to be horror though. If that is what you want to watch, there are other movies for you out there. This one is fantastical and a movie that might feel like it's dragging for people who may not have the patience to watch something that does not have flashy scenes and multiple cuts and a really faster story. It does do a great job and while you probably can see where this is going, it still has a lot of interesting ideas to keep you interested. Even a small "cheat" can be forgiven, because the vibe the movie sends out, is not just being real or reality

Directing: 8 Acting: 7 Story: 6 Production values: 8 Suspence / Thriller level: 7 Action: 3 Mystery / unknown: 4 Romance level: 9 Comedy elements: 1

The young actors were pretty good, but I think the pacing of the drama let it down, and there seemed to be confusion about how magical to let the magical realism become.