If you know anything about Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio, his newest film Kidnapped, is as much a reflection of his own personal psychological and political traumas as anything he has produced in his long and controversial career. Kidnapped had its North American Premiere at the 61st New York Film Festival and is a Spotlight presentation in the 59th Chicago International Film Festival.
This is an important film. It is a pity that so far, it is not scheduled for release in the United States.
Kidnapped was nominated for the Palme d’Or, the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, last May. The winner was Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall.
Kidnapped (Rapito, in Italian) tells the true story of Edgardo Mortara, the sixth child of a Jewish family in Bologna, Italy. In 1851, when the boy was born, Bologna was part of the Papal State and subject to its harsh Taliban-like edicts.
The screenplay was written by the film’s director with Susanna Nicchiarelli, who is also a Venice Film Festival awardee, and is based on the book Il Caso Mortara (The Mortara Case) by Daniele Scalise.
Italian composer Francesco Ciluffo of the tiny Dicapo Opera Theater in New York also turned the book into an Opera, Il Caso Mortara, in 2010.
Kidnap’s plot is set in motion by a singular act. The family’s Christian maid, Anna Morisi, believing the infant boy to be gravely ill and at the point of death, decided to secretly administer the rite of baptism on the advice of no less a religious authority than the local grocer. “If you don’t baptize him,” the grocer admonished her, “you’re the ape committing a mortal sin!”
Rather than go to heaven or hell, as would b normal, the unbaptized child would be caught in limbo, a fate worse than death.
After reporting the incident to the head of the local office of the Holy Inquisition, little Edgardo is forcibly taken to Rome where he will stay in the Casa del Catecumeni, a boarding school for the children of converted Jews. Papal Law forbids a Christian to be raised by non-Christians.
Americans may not be as familiar with Bellocchio’s name as thst of Scorsese or Spielberg (or Michael Mann, with whom he has a current beef), but mention his name in Europe or to an American film critic or aficionado, and you will get an immediate reaction.
Bellocchio, whose career spans nearly 60 years, has been a flashpoint in the world of Italian cinema since the 1960s. He is an avowed atheist and former member of the Italian Communist Party and was once a candidate for the Italian Parliament.
Although he has been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Venice International Film Festival, he has strongly criticized the festival and its president, Michael Mann, for excluding his film, Dormant Beauty, from consideration for a Golden Lion in 2012 because of the film’s advocacy for euthanasia. The film also drew the condemnation of the Catholic Church because of its stance on controversial end-of-life legislation.
With that background in mind, the gentle tone and introspective nature of Kidnapped, is surprising. Its gentle tone, compelling story line and judicious use of elaborate settings and costumes is further evidence of its substantive appeal.
Beautifully filmed by Francesco Di Giacomo, who is a third generation of highly regarded Italian cinematographers, and edited by Francesca Calvelli and Stefano Mariotti, the film has the richness and texture of a Renaissance painting by Titian.
The brooding film score was penned by Fabio Massimo Capogrosso, who also wrote the score for Bellocchio’s highly successful 2022 Italian TV series Esterno Notte (Exterior Night), which was based on the 1978 kidnapping and murder of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
Kidnapped is visually stunning. It was filmed entirely on location in Italy. Locales were in and around Rome, including Bologna. Where the family lived, and the Emilia-Romagna countryside, where much of the story happened.
This is a very important and beautifully crafted film that should be seen by all. Especially so, considering the current political and religious climate.
Foreign films like Kidnapped, which have subtitles usually fare do no fare well with American audiences. I can tell you that the acting and settings of this film are so clear, it is not necessary to read the subtitles. Besides, can barely see them.
Kidnapped is a moving story of faith, family and loss set against once of the most significant moments in Italian history and a watershed moment in religiosity.
It is a perfect example of how a larger moral issue is examined in microcosm. Almost operatic in tone, its enormity of impact simmers just below the surface.
Sadly, there are no release dates planned in the near future for the United States. Future showings are scheduled at the Philadelphia Film Festival in late October. Upcoming theatrical release dates are in Europe for the remainder of 2023 and 2024. Kidnapped is produced and distributed by Cohn Media Group, cohenmedia.com, which has several Academy-Award-winning and nominated films under their belt, so keep an eye out there. For more, visit chicagofilmfestival.com.
