PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Radu_A Almost a sequel to American director Jonas Carpignanos' multi-prize winning "Mediterraneo", "A Ciambra" succeeds at something every European director has failed to do so far: To give a realistic, non-judgmental portrait of Romani life, in following 14-year-old Pio Amato's rapid coming-of-age process. Pio already appeared in "Mediterraneo", as did his refugee friend (Koudous Seihon), who was the principal character.As you can tell from another review here, the attitude towards Sinti and Roma is to this day extremely racist and completely ignorant of the fact that they have been living in Italy for 600 years (Pio's surname is Sinti, i.e. his family has not migrated from the East). In Italian film, gypsies are always thieves and / or murderous psychopaths, "Suburra" and "Jeeg Robot" being the most notorious recent examples. By just reenacting Romani life, "A Ciambra" succeeds in showing how this racist exclusion of Roma (and refugees) creates exactly what it justifies itself with: a marginalized sub-society which perceives the law as hostile, and therefore resorts to crime as a means of survival and defiance. And in this dog-eats-dog world, family is both the only reliable safety net, and the biggest hindrance to an honest living - the film does a good job showing that.If it's not a masterpiece, then because Carpignano adds nothing to this bleak outlook. There's not a shred of hope for Pio's future, and while this is realistic, it also doesn't give the audience much to work with.

lukasserwir This film drags you into the world of Pio, the main character, from the very first shot to the last, making you descend very slowly and blissful back onto your seat, long after the lights have gone on. Unblended cinema magic! You could feel the passion and heart that was put into this throughout; the filming took more than 90 days (wich is abnormally long) but this care and eagerness to bring Pio's world to life in a pure and enthralling way is reflected upon every scene. An important reason for this was probably the characters who felt delightfully authentic, not infected by hollywoodian handsome faces but (apparently the director also used real people from the area) real human faces of wich you simply couldn't doubt there truth and were going straight into your heart. Another decisive factor in the film's relish was beyond a doubt the dynamic and beautiful camera work, capturing the streets of South-Italy and it's powerful faces in warm colours and shifting it's close focus across the action. At the same time A Ciambra shifts your own focus upon Pio's social reality, offering you an absorbing and enriching window upon this poor region in Italy in the spirit of Italian neorealism.

Morten_5 28th STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. DAY 3, NOV 10th 2017. "A Ciambra" (2017) premiered in Sweden at the festival on Nov 8th.‪A soundtrack and score vibrating with the power of life. An authenticity rarely seen and felt. Friendship, dreams and desperation.‬‪The second feature by Italian-American writer-director Jonas Carpignano, "A Ciambra" (2017) is shot with amateur Romani actors, more or less portraying themselves. In 2014, he made a 16 minutes short with the same title and main character/actor, depicting one night in his life.‬

chong_an In Italy, gypsies have been settled into low-rise apartment blocks. Grandpa is nostalgic about the time when they were nomads, represented in the film by a horse. The story is about his grandson, a 14-year- old who wants to be considered an adult and join the family business. While he is given training, he is always told to stay home. However, when all the adult males are rounded up by police, he springs into action, collecting ransom for cars, stealing, selling drugs, etc. He is assisted by his African best friend, a point of irony as the blacks are looked down upon by the gypsies. Eventually, he has to decide whether to betray his friend.I saw this at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the director pointed out that the extended gypsy family was a real family of non-actors, and the script was based on stories they told of their lives. The portrait is of a culture where crime is their main source of income, and formal education is not valued (even though the boy has to get a girl to read him a text message on his phone). While the director has obvious sympathy for the gypsies, to many others it will serve as a warning to keep these people far from our shores.