Cinema surveillance images are loading at the bottom of the page

I'm not scared - Mattia Di Pierro, Giuseppe Cristiano, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Gabriele Salvatores

Threat advisory: Severe - Severe risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Secrets. Betrayal. Murder. Who can you trust when everyone's a suspect?

It is summer 1978, the hottest on record, and 10-year-old Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) lives with his family in a rural southern Italian village, surrounded by endless expanses of corn fields, billowing beneath brilliant sunny skies. His days are filled with the familiar routines of childhood - performing dull chores for his mother (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón), minding his younger sister, Maria (Giulia Matturo), and embarking on his bicycle for outdoor adventures with the other village children.

On one such adventure at an abandoned house, Michele makes a shocking discovery.

A haunting coming-of-age story combined with breathtaking cinematography and nail-biting suspense, I'm not scared offers a vivid and frightening view of the adult world through the eyes of children - a journey from light to darkness and, ultimately, back to light.

Persons of interest

Aitana Sánchez-Gijón .... Anna
Dino Abbrescia .... Pino
Giorgio Careccia .... Felice
Giuseppe Cristiano .... Michele
Mattia Di Pierro .... Filippo
Diego Abatantuono .... Sergio
Giulia Matturo .... Maria
Niccolò Ammaniti .... Screenwriter
Francesca Marciano .... Screenwriter
Gabriele Salvatores .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

I'm not scared official movie site
I'm not scared QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Berlin International Film Festival 2003: Nomination: Golden Berlin Bear (Gabriele Salvatores)
European Film Awards 2003: Nomination: European Film Award Best Cinematographer (Italo Petriccione)
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 2003: Won: Silver Ribbon Best Cinematography (Italo Petriccione), Best Director (Gabriele Salvatores), Best Supporting Actor (Diego Abatantuono); Nomination: Silver Ribbon Best Producer, Best Score (Ezio Bosso, Pepo Scherman), Best Screenplay (Niccolò Ammaniti, Francesca Marciano), Best Sound (Mauro Lazzaro)
Melbourne International Film Festival 2004: FedEx International Panorama

Studios and distributors:

Buena Vista International

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

I'm not scared is the kind of film that desperately needs to be shown without those bloody subtitles. Like all good films, there is no need for us to know the (Americanised) translation of the words said by the characters, all the information is there in the original film. The imagery, the actors, the setting, the action, the props all give us meaning; dialogue is just one more flavour in the soup. Grrr.

Meanwhile, Giuseppe Cristiano is the kind of pubescent kid who inspired lots of Italian painters to immortalise them as cherubs and angels. He presents a slightly fuzzy character but that's all in keeping with someone who has no concept of Bad Things™. This kidnapping is Michele's first encounter with the real world (for me it was also at age 10, when the then Prime Minister died, whoever he was) and it takes him to a place that he never even knew existed.

It's good.