Kidnapped

In 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, a devout traditional Jewish family of several children, are devastated, and desperately try to get their son back. They seek public opinion and the international Jewish community, and their struggle quickly take a political dimension. However, the Church and Pope Pius IX will not agree to return the child.

Director Marco Bellochio has made an incredibly moving and epic-like masterpiece of this true story. The cinematography is exquisite with a superb cast of characters. He is a renowned winner of many awards as writer/director of several remarkable films one of which is the film VINCERE which we featured in 2009. Enea Sala and Lonardo Maltese play Edgardo as a child and adult. Their portrayal is heart rending. THIS IS A DON’T MISS FILM.