New at the movies: Child abduction in the name of the church
It is an outrageous story that Italian director Marco Bellocchio tells in his new drama. And it actually happened. In 1858, a six-year-old Jewish boy is kidnapped in Bologna on behalf of the Pope. The child was secretly baptized as an infant by his Catholic wet nurse. For the Church, it is therefore an irrevocable papal law that the boy must receive a Catholic upbringing.
Against his will and that of his family, little Edgardo Mortara was taken to a boarding school in Rome and brought up in the Catholic faith under the care of Pope Pius IX. The case becomes a scandal - and Edgardo Mortara ultimately becomes a devout Catholic who is known as a preacher.
Competition film in Cannes
Marco Bellocchio has transformed the material into an artistic historical drama. "The Bologna Kidnapping - Stolen in the Name of the Pope" screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year. It is an opulent film that impresses with its harrowing story and magnificent visual design.
The scenes look like paintings, with strong light and shadow effects and sepia tones. Viewers see sweeping tracking shots across the piazza of Bologna or the rooftops of Rome. "In terms of sets, costumes, colors and contrasts, we were inspired by the great tradition of pre-impressionism in Italian and French painting, as expressed in the work of Eugène Delacroix," said 84-year-old Bellocchio in an interview.
There is also an emotional story. The scenes with the young actor Enea Sala, who is torn away from his family and slowly finds a new caregiver in the Pope, are heartbreaking. The film also provides interesting historical insights into a time when child abduction in the name of the Pope was actually legal.
The Bologna Abduction - Kidnapped in the Name of the Pope, Italy/France/Germany 2023, 134 min., FSK from 12 years, by Marco Bellocchio, with Enea Sala, Leonardo Maltese
If you're interested in watching a compelling historical drama, "The Bologna Kidnapping - Stolen in the Name of the Pope" is now competing at the Cannes Film Festival. This movie, directed by Marco Bellocchio, is based on a true story from 1858 about a Jewish boy named Edgardo Mortara who was forcibly taken from his family and raised in the Catholic faith due to papal law.
Source: www.dpa.com
