La course de l'innocent

Italy went through a wave of kidnapping not long ago where wealthy citizens, or their children, were taken away by professional bandits. Most of the people behind this type of crime were from the Calabria area. In fact, it was an industry where some poor people without scruples stood to make a lot of money by extorting rich Italians with the crime they were committing. These evil men would keep the unfortunate victims hidden and would only return them to their families when they received payment. Some times the kidnappers killed their prey when something went wrong.

The film concentrates on two enemy families of kidnappers. When Vito's father kills two opposing members of another gang, their family comes to get revenge and kills six members of the young boy's family. Vito runs away to go look for a brother at a cave, where he discovers a boy, who has been kidnapped, lying dead. When he discovered the boy, he also found a knapsack with an address printed in it, which he assumes is the dead boy's.

The film follows Vito as he flees from the enemy that wants to kill him in amazing fashion. This peasant boy, who probably hasn't left his backward area, finds uncanny ways to avoid being killed and outsmarts the guys that are pursuing him. Eventually, he ends up at the house of the dead boy, where the distraught mother believes her kidnapped son has returned home, to the horror of her husband, who sees the truth.

This Italian film, directed by Carlo Carlei, is a document about that era of that tragic period in the country. Mr. Carlei paces his story well in the way he sets the chase of the boy as he tries to evade his pursuers. Manuel Colao is perfect as the young boy. Francesca Neri and Jacques Perrin are seen as the parents of the kidnapped boy.

The film will not disappoint because it shows the sure hand of a director, Carlo Carlei, who takes us for an exciting ride.

If you are looking for a movie that has a great story, well done acting,fantastic direction and a score that will give you goosebumps when you hear it, look no further Flight of the Innocent is a Masterpiece of pure action and excitement.

I have just finished viewing this movie for the fifth time and I am still not bored with it. I am writing this review now since I have just found out that it has finally been released on DVD, which now is probably the best chance to view this movie better at home.

I have this movie on video bought years ago when it came out and the movie although now 10 years old has not aged a bit. One reviewer asked where the boy got hold of the address, without give any details away about the plot,I would like to point out that the address was written on the boy's bag.

Like I stated before, I have seen this movie more than once and the movie has no plot holes at all. The movie is quite violent especially the shootings, but also a very intelligent one that grabs the viewer from the very start and never lets go.Take note of this movie and if you see it at your local DVD store give it a rent. You will not be disappointed. 10/10

Jtur has a fair point, you could add that the picture never shows how young Vito obtains the address of his goal---but this is a parable, not a New Realism movie with peasants employed as actors. The most striking feature of this highly cinematic picture is that for the whole 101 minutes it has little dialogue. You could write the lines on a couple of pages. It cuts to the chase in the first 30 seconds, and never stops. At the climactic moment, when the young hero bursts into speech for the first time, putting his own life on the line and thereby redeeming his whole murdered criminal family, it has marvellous dramatic, emotional and philosophical impact, nobly underlined by the literary epitaph. Somehow, I can't see the Disney organisation taking on a big issue and dramatically working out its theme in this way. Flight of the Innocent is so well structured. Every 10 minutes, there is a plot point, and it certainly has no "sagging centre"---an exceptional achievement in any picture. The boy just runs and runs and runs, until he is in the arms of---well, don't let's spoil the story, because this is a passionate statement about a genuine horror of southern Italian life, and well worth seeing.

Corsa means race. And this is one of epic dimensions. It is interesting to point out that Carlo Carlei, the director, was in his first effort at the time.

As a director myself, I find some of the many runs of Vito a bit over the top. But, at the same time, I must admit that the scarcity of dialogue and the stupor in Vito's attitude is alluring and simply unnerving.

This is a film that uses in a very effective way the dramatic and cinematic expression of Panavision. This format is completely accepted as the de facto standard for any major release. But the complexities of using this format in a story that will be told through the eyes of a child is not easy.

The superb landscapes and contrasts that make this film as visually stunning and as dark as it is is not a small achievement for a first film. Actually, it's quite unbelievable this is a first directorial job.

The natural settings and lighting give, to some scenes, a beautiful psychological break within all the violence and desperation the main character experiences.

But, above all, this film is effective. It takes the audience completely off-balance and never lets it go. It's gripping. Even with some really redundant scenes and not so believable twists. But we have to remember that for some dramatic purposes, these twists are a valid resource.

Music becomes almost a character in a very unobtrusive form, and I like the sparse passages of really weird and doom-reminding sounds.

The language is beautiful, even when the boy and his family speak with a very tight lilt -true to their land. I only object to the incredibly bad voice-over of the only french actor, it's a voice that is as unconvincing as if the man was talking with Hugh Grant's voice.

Even when all the slo-mo scenes are masterfully planned and shot, the violence is overwhelming. I wouldn't be that explicit, but -then again, this leads the audience to the unexpected with such a speed that it is pretty justified.

All in all, La Corsa... is a riveting film. Manuel Colao's performance and beauty are all the more enticing within such a dark subject matter.

(1992) The Flight Of The Innocent/ La corsa dell'innocente (In Italian with English subtitles) THRILLER/ SUSPENSE

The theme is similar to a later release "I'm Not Scared" also from Italy, co-written and directed by Carlo Carlei where at the beginning of the film, a kidnapping occurs from a wealthy Italian family in exchange for money, only that other baddies know about this. As well with intentions to shoot and kill all the ransomers and to use this ransom scheme keeping all the money themselves. All of this seen through the eyes of a little boy who narrowing escaped, after witnessing his whole family slaughtered! Barely remembered this film and had to see this film again to fully grasp what I didn't like about it and after seeing it again, I didn't enjoy the fact that the story was supposed to be from the boy's point of view and witnessed every one of his family member killed by guns and when the other killers or the other ransomers finally got there comeuppance or their deserts- nothing was shown except by what the protagonists heard. The film seemed like the film flip flopped and was somewhat disappointed that the film did not actually show the killings of the other bad guys who seem to be more cruel and have taken away more lives! Spoiler warning- the story has one plot hole but is not really a big deal is when the Italian media and the police showcases the family slaughtered as well as the wealthy man's son, the police should've been able to find the hideout as well as the other bodies around the area. The scene is important because the wealthy man should've known about his son's deceased either from the police or the media because the cave where the wealthy man's son was hidden was very close by to the first family ransomers! Very brutal how the director showed all the shootings, especially from the eyes of an underage little boy.