DramaHistory

Kidnapped

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.

Release Date : 2023-05-25

Language :HebrewItalianLatin

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : The Match FactoryIBC MOvieKavac FilmRAI CinemaAd Vitam ProductionBRARTE France Cinéma

Production Country : ItalyFranceGermany

Alternative Titles : Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo MortaraKidnapped

Cast

Character Name : Edgardo Mortara bambino

Original Name : Enea Sala

Gender : Male

Character Name : Edgardo Mortara ragazzo

Original Name : Leonardo Maltese

Gender : Male

Character Name : Papa Pio IX

Original Name : Paolo Pierobon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Momolo Mortara

Original Name : Fausto Russo Alesi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Marianna Mortara

Original Name : Barbara Ronchi

Gender : Female

Character Name : Angelo Padovani

Original Name : Andrea Gherpelli

Gender : Male

Character Name : Riccardo Mortara

Original Name : Samuele Teneggi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Giudice Carboni

Original Name : Corrado Invernizzi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli

Original Name : Filippo Timi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pier Gaetano Feletti

Original Name : Fabrizio Gifuni

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sabatino Scazzocchio

Original Name : Paolo Calabresi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Anna Morisi

Original Name : Aurora Camatti

Gender : Female

Character Name : Maresciallo Lucidi

Original Name : Bruno Cariello

Gender : Male

Character Name : Angelo Moscati

Original Name : Walter Lippa

Gender : Male

Character Name : Padre Mariano

Original Name : Alessandro Bandini

Gender : Male

Character Name : Brigadiere Agostini

Original Name : Leonardo Bianconi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bonaiuto Sanguinetti

Original Name : Daniele Aldrovandi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Avvocato Jussi

Original Name : Fabrizio Contri

Gender : Male

Character Name : Avvocato Liberale

Original Name : Giustiniano Alpi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rabbino Vita

Original Name : Orfeo Orlando

Gender : Male

Character Name : Signora anziana

Original Name : Federica Fracassi

Gender : Female

Character Name : Signora giovane

Original Name : Giulia Quadrelli

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rettore

Original Name : Renato Sarti

Gender : Male

Character Name : Madre Simone

Original Name : Flavia Baiku

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tagliacozzo

Original Name : Tonino Tosto

Gender : Male

Character Name : Elia

Original Name : Christian Mudu

Gender : Male

Character Name : Aronne

Original Name : Riccardo Bandiera

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-04-27

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.