Children of Fate: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Children of Fate: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language |
English Italian |
| Publishing year | 1993 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Andrew Young Susan Todd |
| production |
Adam Friedson Andrew Young |
| music | John T. La Barbera |
| camera | Andrew Young Robert M. Young |
Children of Fate: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family is a documentary released in 1993.
It can be considered a continuation of the 1961 documentary called Cortile Cascino by Robert M. Young and Michael Roemer . The filmmakers once captured life in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Palermo , the Cortile Cascino. Thirty years later, one of the protagonists, Angela, is again filmed in her living conditions. Robert Young's son, Andrew Young , returned to Sicily in 1988 with his wife, Susan Todd . When he was two years old he had been present at the filming. On the occasion of the visit, the documentary from 1961 is shown again, which motivates Angela to write down her life story. She also wants to capture her point of view because the film would not have done justice to the former misery.
action
The filmmakers visit the former Cortile Cascino with Angela. This no longer exists, as an earthquake destroyed a lot in 1968 and new blocks of flats have now been built on the old terrain. Angela shares her memories with the viewer.
The film contains many excerpts from the old documentary. Angela says she was 23 years old in 1961. She had been married for six years, had three children and was expecting a fourth. Neither her husband nor her brother Gildo, who also lived next door with his family in a single room, had a job. Angela's family had very little to eat. Her husband, Luigi, claimed the first plate for himself, then the children got it and if there was anything left, she ate too. Angela's life consisted of work and childcare. Around a hundred people shared a tap in the neighborhood. Despite the agreed usage rules, there was usually a dispute. Angela reminds herself that living conditions in the neighborhood have been equated with those in the developing world. She says it would have been worse in the Cortile Cascino. There was no work in the neighborhood itself. Angela's stepfather searched the dump for rags to make money. The brother's family was doing relatively well. His wife was half blind and therefore received a monthly pension and her mother, at the age of 79, went cleaning eight hours a day, so that they also had meat on the table. Angela, on the other hand, lost a daughter to malnutrition.
There was a place in the neighborhood where it was allowed to sort the rags outside. There and in many handicraft businesses in the district the children worked for a low wage and accordingly did not go to school, at the moment when they could claim an adult's salary, they were again replaced by children. According to Angela, her husband and brother suffered knowing their own nothingness, even if they always managed to pass the time.
Angela recalls that she never got any support from her husband. On the contrary: he often came home drunk, verbally abused and hit her. They have now been separated for seven years and he lives in the only house that has been preserved from the former district. Angela, on the other hand, moved to Ragusa with her six children. She says: “Era il posto più lontano da Parlermo che potevo trovare.” (“It was the farthest place I could find from Palermo.”) One day her husband threatened to kill her if she left him, no matter wherever they fleas. Angela earns her living as a cleaning lady in a private apartment.
Luigi lives from collecting old materials after being imprisoned for theft. He would like to make peace with his wife as he is afraid of dying alone. But she is afraid of him. He beat her for 28 years and also had the urge to hurt himself, so that she ultimately pityed him. Now the day can be bad, but she is happy because she knows that no one can abuse her at night anymore. Angela says that her fate was determined by the Cortile Cascino and that she probably had a better life elsewhere with another man. Since their breakup, she definitely feels reborn.
Her little sister Beatrice, who her mother wished not to share Angela's fate, actually married someone from outside the neighborhood and leads a fairly normal life.
Her brother Gildo is no longer poor, but just as he once did not give her any meat, he has not helped her so far. He still lives in Parlermo and sells antiques.
Even though Angela, as she puts it, never missed a job in the world so that her children would be better off, these experiences have made them difficult lives. One daughter, Anna, became pregnant when she was thirteen and later became very ill. Finuccia was supposed to become a piano player but only went to school for three years as she took care of the smaller children while the mother went to work. She and her husband robbed her and was sentenced to four years of house arrest. Her husband died of an overdose a few months before filming began. Finuccia is expecting her second child.
The boys in the neighborhood wanted to gain respect and be admired and therefore hoped to become members of the Mafia at some point. Angela couldn't prevent her four sons from getting into bad company. Your eldest has spent a total of 14 years and 7 months of his 31st year behind bars. Of her children, only her second oldest has a job. He and his wife clean offices. You dream of running a grocery store.
Angela fears that crime and violence will continue to dominate her life. The film shows murders of the past and the news of the current mafia murders. Angela reports that to this day the mafia itself has benefited from the funerals of the poor.
The daughter Anna died during the filming. One of the last scenes shows the parents standing separately from each other at the grave during the funeral. Anna and Finuccia is dedicated to the documentary film.
Others
The film is inspired by the writings of Danilo Dolci .
Only the protagonists speak in the film, especially Angela, who acts as a kind of narrator. The English version uses voice-over .
Awards
The film won the 1993 Sundance Film Festival for Best Documentary ( Excellence in Cinematography Award Documentary ). He also opened the Film Forum in the same year . In 1994 the film was nominated for an Oscar .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anya Sakharov, Dogged by the Very Mind-Set of Poverty , New York Magazine on May 24, 1993, p. 17