Certi bambini (A Children's Story)

Eleven-year-old Rosario lives in a cheerless apartment in the suburbs with his sick grandmother who spends most of the day in bed. He and a couple of friends spend time slacking off between a dive pub and the Las Vegas gambling joint. They smoke, drink and steal, imitating the worst of the adult world they see around them. The laughter that once graced their faces as children has been replaced by a queer, ambiguous smile bearing witness to myriad painful experiences. The makers of "Certi Bambini" (based upon the novel by Diego De Silva) have placed incidents from the boys’ lives in extensive flashbacks, mental flights Rosario embarks upon during long subway rides. With every new abrupt closing of the train doors, the boy drags us into his recent past and presents the three most influential people in his life: the admired Santino, the feared Damiano and the alluring Caterina. This fascinating film bears cruel witness to how easy it is for a troubled child to get mixed up in Naples camorra.