Mario's War (2005) User Reviews

excellent!!

[lunasanguine · 8/10 · 26 October 2005]

I went to watch this movie during the London film festival and I thought it was brilliant. extremely well directed especially for Capuano who is filming under a different perspective and certainly doing something he is not used to. Performances from both Golino and Marco (last name ?) were very good and very strong.

The plot itself can be disturbing depending on the point of view and it basically depicts the emotional turbulence it is to adopt a very troubled young child and bring him out of the mindset he is used to in a conventional yet effective manner. Conventional is someone Golino doesn't portray. She is artistic, exuberant, liberal, creative and innovative. No one is sure if this is what the little boy needs but the formula certainly makes for interesting viewing and i recommend this to anyone. This is also based on a real life story on which the director keeps a close account to.

review

[yoshi_s_story · 7/10 · 19 November 2014]

Mario is one of those kids whom life puts at a disadvantage since their infancy; he is one of the many, doubtless too many, children who are born and grow in a crime-driven and crime-filled social environment. The kid is given in foster care to Giulia (Golino), a single, high-class woman yearning to pour her motherly instincts into taking care for a hard life kid.

Despite what may be the first impression, this is not a typical Italian «cinema» production, anodyne, stuffed with good feelings and politically correct contents, saying little if anything. It is instead an appreciable work, with Valeria Golino, Marco Grieco (the 9 years old boy) standing out among a bunch of good looking and characterless performers.

«Intelligence is the only freedom», «La guerra di Mario» states. It is unlucky that intelligence is very rare in social workers: just like way too many children in «real» life, Mario is separated from his affectionate found-mother since she is not married and he will «surely» be better fostered by «an actual family, with a married couple, brothers and sisters». From behind the window he watches the woman who loved him as a son leave; there is an airplane up in the azure mediterranean sky, flying free; the war of Mario continues, we can just hope one day he'll reach that plane.

So much passion went into this film

[marcello-38 · 10/10 · 9 October 2006]

Bravissimo!!! Grazie Dio per "Cinema Italian Style." This film was arduous to view and you could feel everyone in the theater squirming in their seats. Brilliant intelligent film that demands you ask questions of yourself, your friends, society, the world and everything you thought to be true. It does not matter what country you are from because we are all a mess. Life is a messy affair, families are messy, this story is about the ultimate mess that we create. The monster is made at home in the kitchen. This movie only asks questions, it gives no solutions or answers, I'm certain it will never be released in the U.S... This film is so complex on so many levels that it is impossible to make the typical trivial comments. The passion, perceptions and intellect of everyone involved in the making of this movie is evident from the first frame. See it if you still believe film is an art form.

Rosso Shock

[cmmescalona · 10/10 · 6 January 2008]

Intelligent. Provocative. Shocking. Mind-boggling. Disturbing. Beautiful.

Capuano, again, does his magic. He gave us memorable films with approaches similar to La Guerra di Mario, with approaches I would call, to say the least, unusual.

His way of revealing the mysteries of Neapolitan life is absolutely original. Many of those ideas are captured in this film, you'll have to look for them and make them your own discovery.

As writer, director and producer, Capuano commits again all the power of his vision and his story-telling in a very shocking way. Maybe you'll never find a film where a 9 year old boy blows you out of your socks. And maybe it's just my understatement to what Mario (superbly played by Marco Greco) tells the audience.

Valeria Golino has the difficult role of Mario's to-be mother. You have to watch the film to understand what I say. I won't reveal not a bit of the story. It's worth doing anything you can to find it and watch it.

It's a difficult story. A very real story, because it deals with life as it comes. Sadly, most Americans and all influenced solely by American films, may find this kind of cinema not entertaining or even interesting. You'll only find a glimpse into the deep reality of us humans.

But that's what European cinema has been doing for one hundred years, so you know more or less what you'll face.

What really grabbed my attention again is Capuano's inventiveness. In his previous films (which you have to see) he uses devices that are sometimes quite far-fetched, but he is absolutely on his own, and he knows what he does. Mainly, he knows he will shock his audience. And he does. Something you'll have to look for in this film, too.

This film is to me as one of those great dinners prepared by a master chef: the very best ingredients, the very best hands and the very best wines in a presentation that is as important as every other detail. Capuano had a beautiful script, superb actors, an amazing crew and the absorbing city of Naples. All he needed was serving it with perfection.

Please, if you can see this film, watch it twice and you'll find out how impressive are the very original means Capuano uses to tell a story.