Author's judgement: 
Nothing happens by chance, everything happens in sequences of facts and circumstances that take place in time and space. When discussing the great social phenomena and, in particular, the more or less organized and structured criminal tendencies such as the mafia, the Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta as well as the great cartels of international drug dealing, there is sometimes the risk of to think that the genesis, their birth, is casual, only to then have to ascertain that instead they have a very strong and deeply rooted background of ancient societies, cultures, languages and behaviours.
The film we are proposing this week refers exactly to all of this: how criminal behavior takes shape in Naples, how the new recruits of criminal consortia grow. It's about The paranza of the children, Directed by Claudio Giovanninesi and an excellent cast of young actors, which yesterday won the award for best screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival.
The story is loosely based on the third novel by Roberto Saviano and reconstructs the birth and affirmation of a group of young teenagers who live in the Sanità district of Naples, the same one that gave birth to Totò. The initial scene really happened: the large Christmas tree that is usually placed in the Galleria Umberto is torn down and dragged away by a gang of boys (there are images taken by security cameras on the net). Apparently it seems more like a wild game, not so innocent, but not so criminal either. However, everything has its own starting point, a date of birth. From that moment the group is structured with its own code of attitudes, nicknames, roles and figures in many respects already seen in the world of "grown-ups". In fact, we feel all the Gomorrah of literature and images that has had so much success in Italy and in the world with millions of copies sold of books and DVDs. All those scenic and narrative parts that have put a granite stamp on the story, on the common sense, that is assigned to that crime told and described in such detail are exactly reviewed.
Rereading the text, rewinding the images of previous stories, the lack of a fundamental piece is exactly felt: how is it born, how does it grow, how does one become murderers, drug dealers, extortionists, occasional criminals or in effective permanent service in the pay of the local boss? At the end of the screening, viewers are warned that the events described are pure invention, but it seems more like a legal note than a need for clarification. Unfortunately, the news has long accustomed us to reading or seeing bloody events without interruption, wars between gangs armed to the teeth with no holds barred with the sole aim of controlling the territory and guaranteeing the conduct of illicit trafficking.
The film succeeds very well in describing the details, those facial expressions and the sense of words that perfectly convey the idea of how, how a boy can be attracted more by handling a gun than being touched by the idea of following a school course and looking for a job (two worlds completely absent throughout the film). The director cut his teeth with some episodes of Gomorrah and masters the camera often handheld and live audio in an excellent way: close-ups and details that well describe the climate, the environments and the social context where he was born and develops a propensity to commit crime. In this case, the thin line that divides the novel from reality is often exceeded to such an extent that it is difficult to understand when it is on one side or the other.
The Children's Paranza, which won the prize for the best screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival, was nominated Film Critics by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Critics SNCCI.
