Team Italy and in the mood for Netflix? This Italian film is being praised
Launched at the last minute of 2024 on Netflix, right at the top of the best-rated films of 2024. Il Treno dei Bambini is according to IMDb the best Italian Netflix film of the past year. The true story is good for twelfth place in the overall top list, but with a 7.4, it hardly falls short of the leaders. Of course, I have already formed my judgment, as I now see every Italian release as homework.
Il Treno dei Bambini
The film, based on the bestseller by Viola Ardone, brings a little-known piece of Italian history to life. Il Treno dei Bambini is largely set in the popular, poor, beautiful but harsh Naples of the 1950s. Young Amerigo is temporarily sent to northern Italy to escape the poverty of the south. This initiative, organized by the Italian Communist Party, aimed to give children a chance at a better life. For Amerigo, this journey opens new doors, but it also means he has to distance himself from his family and roots.
Besides telling a beautiful historical story about poverty, but also opportunities, I found it wonderful how the ever-divided Italy is portrayed. The difference in wealth is almost secondary; it indirectly contributed to differences in manners, differences in attitude, and the difference in mentality between north and south. Much larger in the past, but it is still visible today. The film also emphasizes a dilemma: to stay or to leave, to embrace your family or to choose your own path.
The Italian child trains in real life
The child trains were indeed a real initiative in Italy after World War II, where thousands of children from poor regions in Southern Italy were temporarily sent to host families in the richer north. It happened to protect the little ones from the dire poverty and poor living conditions of their homes. Children received food, clothing, and sometimes education there in the north and usually returned to their families after a few months.
Although the initiative was intended to help, it often also led to alienation for the children who returned to poverty after getting a glimpse of a better life. Conservatives were afraid of ideological influence from the Italian Communist Party and humanitarian organizations that organized it.
What do others say?
In addition to the neat IMDb score, critics also expressed praise. La Repubblica calls the film honest and moving. The Guardian praises the realism and the balance between emotion and story. Some critics say the pace is a bit slow, but most see that as an advantage: it gives the film time to breathe and the characters space to be real. Did I think it was the best Italian film ever? Certainly not. Is the film worth watching? Absolutely. If only to hear that Neapolitan dialect.
