Kidnapped
Release date: 2023-05-25
Votes: 348
Genres: Drama, History
The story of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
Based on a bizarre true story, this follows the tale of the young Edgardo Sala who was living quite happily with his Jewish parents and siblings in Bologna until an official arrives one evening to tell them he is to be removed from their care. Why? It appears that many years earlier when he was in his cradle, he has been baptised and so must therefore be looked after by the church. Despite their appeals and protestations, he is swiftly taken to Rome where he is enrolled in a Catholic school where his is pretty thoroughly indoctrinated into the ways of his new Church - even becoming of special interest to Pope Pius IX (Paolo Pierobon). The story really centres around the trial many year later of the Papal Officer Feletti (Fabrizio Gifuni) after the city had become part of the Italian Kingdom, and those proceedings are used to fill in some of the backstory and to test the theories of responsibility of actions done in the name of the State. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the young man grows up to become conflicted - his love of Jesus struggles with his love of family and of the Talmud that was so important to him as a child. What I didn't really understand was just why the Pope would ever been at all interested in the fate of a small Jewish lad when the Papal States were in permanent decline, but Marco Bellochio uses a solid cast and a sparing, but frequently impassioned, amount of dialogue to deliver a stylishly made intrigue that show the last vestiges of the once all-powerful Papacy and of the inconsequential hopes of a family and a small boy.
Movie Recommendation
La quattordicesima domenica del tempo ordinario2023-05-04Samuele and Marzio, as teenagers, make a promise to be friends forever, but adulthood, women and everyday problems sneak into their lives.More...
My Summer with the Shark2023-06-01School's out and 13-year-old Walter has lost his father. In his seemingly aimless wanderings around the Roman coast, a fascinating and mysterious place catches his eye: an abandoned villa with a huge, murky swimming pool. But the villa is not unguarded...More...
Once Upon a Time in Algeria2023-11-15The childhood of the movie director Antoine Lisner, who left Algeria in 1962. In order to present his new movie, he comes back to Algiers with his son.More...
The Wakhan Front2015-09-30Afghanistan, 2014. As the withdrawal of troops approaches, Captain Antarès Bonassieu and his squad have been assigned a surveillance mission in a remote valley of Wakhan, on the border of Pakistan. Despite Antarès and his men’s determination, control of the secluded valley will slowly fall out of their hands. One dark night, soldiers begin to mysteriously disappear in the valley.More...
Lost Country2023-10-11Belgrade, 1996. During the student demonstrations against the Milosevic regime, 15-year-old Stefan leads his own revolution in the heat of events: accepting the unacceptable, seeing his mother as an accomplice in the crime and finding, despite the love he feels for her, the strength to confront her.More...
Soros2019-08-31Billionaire activist George Soros is one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. He is maligned by ideologues on both the left and the right for daring to tackle the world’s problems. With unprecedented access to the man and his inner circle, director Jesse Dylan follows Soros and pulls back the curtain on his personal history, private wealth, and public activism.More...
The Secret of Little Rose2023-10-20Joanna Warczewska, daughter of an eminent writer, is at the peak of her life. Her thriving political career and family happiness are instantly destroyed by a terrorist attack in which her beloved husband is killed. When fate gives her a new chance in life, another blow hits her. Someone sends her photos and documents undermining her family ties and suggesting that her mother has collaborated with the Security Service in the past. Joanna decides to conduct a historical investigation on her own and unravel the mystery that casts a shadow on her family. What she discovers not only makes her look at her mother in a completely different way, but will also make her find her own identity. Joanna will be forced to face the blackmailer herself and make a choice that will change her life forever.More...
After Work2023-08-04Kuwait’s constitution says that every person has the right to a job, so in some places 20 people are employed for one person’s job. In South Korea, they work so much that a policy has been introduced to turn off computers at the end of the day so that employees can’t work any more. In the US, they give up over 500 million holiday hours each year, while Amazon’s drivers are trying to form a union. Meanwhile, robots are poised to take over most jobs and put the rest of us out of work. Work is so crucial to our identity and what we spend our waking hours on that it is barely noticed anymore. A lot has happened since a group of Puritan priests invented the concept of work ethic in the 1600s, and in the 21st century the very concept of work is in many ways disintegrating. A perfect situation for a filmmaker like Swedish mastermind Erik Gandini, who travels the world to explore what the concept of work means today – if it means anything at all.More...
Machtat2023-04-23Mahdia, Tunisia. Fatma and her daughters, Najeh and Waffeh, work as “machtat”, traditional musicians who play at wedding ceremonies. Their music evokes love and its promises, but the reality is much more complex and painful. Between illusions and disillusionment, Machtat is a powerful and liberating portrait of three women asserting their voices.More...
A Difficult Year2023-10-18Compulsive spenders Albert and Bruno are in debt up to their necks. While seeking help from community workers to get their lives back on track, they run into a group of young green activists. Lured by the free beer and snacks rather than by the ideals of eco-activists, Albert and Bruno find themselves joining the movement without much conviction.More...
The Third Part of the Night1972-01-04Set during the Nazi occupation of Poland, the story follows Michał, who witnesses the murder of his mother, wife and child and then is hurled into a life that literally is not his own; a surreal world littered with trapdoors, doppelgängers and wormholes.More...
Houseguests2020-01-30A sudden tragedy hits a wealthy middle-class family from North-East Italy. Tensions, hidden secrets and small hypocrisies emerge.More...
One Second2020-11-27A movie fan escapes from a labour camp during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.More...
Esterno Notte (part II)2022-06-09The 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terroristsMore...
Chime2024-08-02A chef's life is disrupted by a chime that brings with it an increasing sense of dread.More...
Dark Web: Cicada 33012021-03-12Genius hacker Connor discovers Cicada 3301, an online treasure hunt that could be a recruiting tool for a secret society. Soon Conner, art-expert friend Avi, and secretive librarian Gwen are dashing from graffiti sites to ancient libraries to uncover real-world clues. But they must outrun aggressive NSA agents, also hot on the trail of Cicada, who want the glory for themselves.More...
Flo2023-11-01World premiering on the Plage, it tells the story of « the little fiancée of the Atlantic », who’s career reached its peak with her victory of the Route du Rhum in 1990.More...
The Nature of Love2023-09-22Sophia is a philosophy professor in Montreal and has lived as a couple with Xavier for 10 years. Sylvain is a carpenter in the Laurentians and must renovate their country house. When Sophia meets Sylvain for the first time, it’s love at first sight. Opposites attract, but can it last?More...
Mixed by Erry2023-03-02The rise and fall of the pirate mixtape empire of three brothers from Naples, Italy, during the '80s.More...
September2022-05-05Over the course of a day in September, three loosely related people realize their life is not the one they dreamt of.More...
Similar Movies
The Big Blue
1988-05-10Two men answer the call of the ocean in this romantic fantasy-adventure. Jacques and Enzo are a pair of friends who have been close since childhood, and who share a passion for the dangerous sport of free diving. Professional diver Jacques opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy; to the bewilderment of scientists, Jacques harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing pattern in the water, so that his vital signs more closely resemble that of dolphins than men. As Enzo persuades a reluctant Jacques to compete against him in a free diving contest -- determining who can dive deeper and longer without scuba gear -- Jacques meets Johana, a beautiful insurance investigator from America, and he finds that he must choose between his love for her and his love of the sea.The Godfather
1972-03-14Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.The Godfather Part II...
1974-12-20In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.The Godfather Part II...
1990-12-25In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.Song of Scheherazade
1947-02-26A beautiful cabaret dancer inspires composer Rimsky-Korsakov.The Prestige
2006-10-17A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.The Miracle Worker
1962-05-23The true story of the frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness of 7-year-old Helen Keller who, since infancy, has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch, the only tool they have in common, and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.The Talented Mr. Ripl...
1999-12-25Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.Copying Beethoven
2006-09-10A fictionalised exploration of Beethoven's life in his final days working on his Ninth Symphony. It is 1824. Beethoven is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma. A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer. A fictional character is introduced in the form of a young conservatory student and aspiring composer named Anna Holtz. The mercurial Beethoven is skeptical that a woman might become involved in his masterpiece but slowly comes to trust in Anna's assistance and in the end becomes quite fond of her. By the time the piece is performed, her presence in his life is an absolute necessity. Her deep understanding of his work is such that she even corrects mistakes he has made, while her passionate personality opens a door into his private world.The People vs. Larry ...
1996-12-25Larry Flynt is the hedonistically obnoxious, but indomitable, publisher of Hustler magazine. The film recounts his struggle to make an honest living publishing his girlie magazine and how it changes into a battle to protect the freedom of speech for all people.Velvet Goldmine
1998-08-28Almost a decade since larger-than-life glam-rock enigma Brian Slade disappeared from public eye, an investigative journalist is on assignment to uncover the truth behind his former idol.Nigel 4: The Candidat...
2021-06-11Nicholas Gelberry and his partner Rufus face up against their biggest challenge since the American revolution -- the election of 1800.Dances with Wolves
1990-03-30Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.The Last Samurai
2003-12-05Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.Interview with the Va...
1994-11-11A vampire relates his epic life story of love, betrayal, loneliness, and dark hunger to an over-curious reporter.Life Is Beautiful
1997-12-20A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.Contempt
1963-10-29A philistine in the art film business, Jeremy Prokosch is a producer unhappy with the work of his director. Prokosch has hired Fritz Lang to direct an adaptation of "The Odyssey," but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb at the box office, he brings in a screenwriter to energize the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.Amadeus
1984-09-19Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.Dernier soleil
2021-06-24Somewhere in the north-east of France, Eric, a penniless man who lives in his car, rejects his son Esteban, 10 years old, autistic and living under the care of his uncle. Because of another carelessness of his father, Esteban is kidnapped by two gangsters. Eric, devastated, is determined to do what's necessary in order to raise the ransom. He plunges into the city's ghetto in hopes of saving his son.Marley
No data for this movieA musical re-imagining of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, told from the perspective of Ebenezer Scrooge'a business partner Jacob Marley.