Boarding school can be a very scary place. Giulio (Vincenzo Crea), an introverted 17-year-old from a wealthy family, discovers just how menacing his elite alpine school is after being awakened in the middle of the night by older students in hockey masks. Daily life is rigid and acetic: The students only have access to cell phones for a few hours each day and the nearest town is 10 kilometers away. Giulio feels lonely after having been sent away by his busy mother, but his isolation is quickly ruptured by the energetic friendship of rebellious Edoardo (Ludovico Succio). Together, they form a deep bond—a brotherly love made stronger by the dearth of affection from their parents—and sneak out and find a nightclub in the woods. Everything is going well until Christmas vacation, when left to themselves in the empty school, they discover a strangely abandoned wing of the building. Andrea De Sica, a musician and filmmaker, (grandson of Vittorio De Sica), has fashioned a notable drama that is a cross between a coming-of-age story and THE SHINING, featuring excellent performances; beautiful, frightening music; and a tightly wound, visually stunning narrative. –
Nancy FishmanCo-presented by
California Film Institute and
Bocconi Alumni Association of San Francisco.