Ciao Bambino
A 19-year-old boy from a working-class neighbourhood in Naples is assigned to protect an Eastern-European prostitute—and his father’s debts soon force him to choose between his burgeoning love and his father’s demands.
DIRECTOR
Edgardo Pistone
actors
1h 40m • Rated TBC • Drama • Italy
Marco Adamo • Anastasiia Kaletchuk • Luciano Pistone • Pasquale Esposito • Salvatore Pelliccia
To complicate matters, young Attillo will also have to repay debts and promises his father made. Soon, Attillo will be forced to choose between freedom, his family, and his romantic heart. Director Edgardo Pistone never falls into predictable tropes, crime cliches or sentimentality, instead offering a very stylish, even cool, but realistic portrayal of a small moment in a very challenging world. Without a doubt, this is a new Italian directorial voice to watch, with a powerful visual approach and a stylish, fresh take on the gritty crime genre. Paolo Rotondo
CRITICS ROUNDUP
A raw, compassionate portrait of lost youth
Set in the Traiano periphery district of Napoli, Ciao Bambino takes an aesthetic and philosophical approach to tell a story of love, crime and the legacy older generations force on the young. In stunning black and white photography reminiscent of the New Wave of Italian Cinema, we are immersed into a dangerous world where growing up is complicated and uncertain. At 19 years old, young Attillo takes his first job as a minder for a young Ukrainian prostitute. This is a world of survival with little room for sentimentality, yet somehow, a love germinates.