This is an Italian coming of age film about a young man who was entering his teen years when WWII began. In some ways it reminds me of a combination of AMARCORD and THE SUMMER OF '42--as at least in the beginning, the film focused on ordinary small town folk during the war (like in AMARCORD) and a bunch of very horny boys (like SUMMER OF '42). The problem is that while the film began well, it seems to have lost its focus and charm. While WWII isn't exactly a "charming" period, the likability of ANYONE in the film was a problem. The townspeople turned out to be quite vile and the leading character seemed to have some serious sexual hangups (such as voyeurism and fetishism)--plus he spent so much time masturbating. Now they didn't show masturbation explicitly, but the little goomer was clearly playing with himself again and again with great gusto! In hindsight, I would have dropped all the sexual hangups the kid had because it tended to deflect the focus in the film. The film was at its best when it showed human nature, as the townspeople gossiped about and mistreated a decent lady just because she was so beautiful. Then, when she was apparently widowed and broke with no one to help her, she slept with the Nazi occupiers to survive. This and the peoples' reaction to this after the war was really fascinating but unfortunately so much time was spent on this horny kid that the significance of the rest of the film was lost.
Oh, and if you want good parenting advice, just look to the boy's father. To cure his chronic masturbation and wearing the lady's stolen underwear on his head while he slept, his father took him to a prostitute. Now THAT'S something I don't remember reading in Dr. Spock!!
Oh, and if you want good parenting advice, just look to the boy's father. To cure his chronic masturbation and wearing the lady's stolen underwear on his head while he slept, his father took him to a prostitute. Now THAT'S something I don't remember reading in Dr. Spock!!