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Ciao, Professore! Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 7 Reviews)
Completely Magical!
CIAO, PROFESSORE is a film that deserves to be in everyone's collection. Every aspect of this utterly charming story is so well done that it feels perfect. Based on actual 3rd grade children's essays from a school outside of Naples, Italy, the script sings and dances in words that only children could have spoken. Lina Wertmuller takes this fine script and populates it with fine actors: Paolo Villaggio is inimitable as the Professor who comes form Northern Italy to the squalor of Southern Italy with all of the ideals of a dedicated teacher in place - or out of place, as he finds in the poverty and crime stricken city of Corsano; Isa Danieli is the coarse and world-hardened Principal of the school; and the children who begin as renegades and slowly enter a mutual transformation with the Professore are played by 'non-professional actors' gleaned from Naples. The children steal the show, so individual and committed are they to their roles. A film about poverty and misguided kids could be depressing, but Wertmuller and her fine cast make this a celebration of the human spirit without ever dipping into bathos. This is one of the finest movies about the teacher/student relationship that has ever been made -and that is saying a lot. Highly Recommended.
Fantastic Experience - and Educational for Americans
Ciao, Professore! is an absolutely wonderful Italian film dealing not only with the cleverness and light-heartedness of children, but also with the unfortunate political and social problems that rage in Southern Italy. The film, though distinctly European, does not assume too much of the viewer in any respect, and one has the opportunity to see how Italians view the North/South and regional splits that continue to fragment the country. The tale, following the exploits of a middle class teacher transferred by accident to a lower class elementary school, shows how the Northern teacher and Southern students gain respect for one another and reconcile their differences. The film is not afraid to comment on Southern problems that include crime, pollution, and poverty, nor on the people who endure these for the sake of their families and children. If you are tired of mob films that spin Italians in a negative light, come learn how wonderful these people really can be. An amusing comedy that the whole family can watch together...simple enough for children and sophisticated enough for adults. Five stars.
Ciao Professore
A delightful tale told well about life in the ghettos of Naples and how kids get trapped into a life with no future. The amazing part of this film is that the children who played the parts of the ghetto kids were actually local kids from the ghetto with no acting experience! They do an acting job that puts most of Hollywood's kid stars to shame. All the acting was first rate as was the direction and technical aspects of the film.
Heart warming and very funny. Certainly worth seeing from both an entertainment and educational point of view.
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