The Last Time We Were Children

The Last Time We Were Children

2023 · 106 min · IT · 7.0 (137 votes)
Dir. Claudio Bisio · Starring Alessio Di Domenicantonio, Vincenzo Sebastiani, Carlotta De Leonardis, Lorenzo McGovern Zaini, Federico Cesari, Marianna Fontana · Music Pivio
DramaComedyAdventure

Rome, summer 1943. Four children play war while the bombs of real war explode around them. Italo is the rich son of the Federal, Cosimo has his father in confinement and an atavistic hunger, Vanda is an orphan and a believer, Riccardo comes from a wealthy Jewish family. They are different but they don't know it and between them "the greatest friendship in the world" is born, impervious to the divisions of history that bloodies Europe. But on October 16 the Jewish boy is taken away by the Germans together with over a thousand people from the Ghetto. Thanks to Italo's father Federale, the three friends believe they know where he is and, to honor the "spit pact", decide to leave in secret to convince the Germans to free their friend. Yet another imaginative mission becomes reality, the three children travel alone in an Italy exhausted by war, among disbanded soldiers, deserters, occupying German troops, exhausted and hungry populations.

VIBE

This film offers a bittersweet journey through wartime Italy, seen through the eyes of resilient children. It's an innocent yet perilous adventure, exploring the profound bonds of friendship against a backdrop of historical turmoil. The mood is poignant and hopeful, despite the encroaching shadows of conflict.

innocentadventurouspoignantbittersweetperiloussteadyhistorical coming-of-agepoignant realismhumanistic adventurechildhood innocenceunwavering friendshipwartime resiliencethe brutality of conflicthope