THE CHILDREN’S TRAIN NETFLIX

THE CHILDREN’S TRAIN NETFLIX

Dec 15, 2024 | BOOKS, MOVIES, BOOKS, MOVIES

We already talked about The Children’s Train when I read Viola Ardone’s book published by Einaudi. 

But above all, we talked about The Children’s Train when I read the book Happiness trains by Giovanni Rinaldi. 

I became fond of Giovanni Rinaldi’s research work and his subsequent There was me on that train too and with words I travelled through the stories of many children, many families, many people who today still witness the beauty of solidarity through eyes that have seen the train of life run and through words that have much to teach us.

A discovery, a gift, which has brought us the privilege of the direct testimony of Americo Marino. 

Americo, not Amerigo, I am not mistaken: the real name of the man we knew as the protagonist of Einaudi or  The Children’s train Netflix, played by Christian Cervone and Stefano Accorsi is Americo. 

And if in some interviews Viola Ardone recognised Derna, Pachiochia or Maddalena as real characters, officially Americo remains a fictional character, despite the fact that significant elements such as his shoes, to name one, come from his direct testimony. 

This is why I could not miss seeing The Children’s train Netflix directed by Cristina Comencini and produced by Palomar.

The film was presented at the Rome Film Festival and has the support of the Emilia Romagna Region and Film Commission Torino Piemonte.

I sincerely hoped for a different epilogue with regard to the personal story of Americo, a person of rare sensitivity to whom I have grown fond of.

A thank you in the credits, a reference, a name, even coffee was mentioned.

How would you react if, we can say the whole world, given that The Children’s train has been translated into twenty-five languages, knew elements of your story, then declined in a different way?

Would you still be happy or would you suffer?

Have you seen The Children’s train Netflix?

If, like me, you are left with the thought of those children travelling to the unknown and how they found the affection of families who welcomed them as children, I think this video will move you, it is not fiction:

Derna and Americo from the Rinaldi Archive 

HUNTING THE BOGEYMAN

HUNTING THE BOGEYMAN

Nov 23, 2024 | BOOKS

Caccia all’uomo nero Hunting the Bogeyman published by Pav Edizioni: the latest read for which I thank the author Sabino Napolitano and Mari Manual. 

Undoubtedly a striking title: ‘the bogeyman’ is a figure we often learn about from childhood.

The first meaning that the Treccani attributes to him is exactly: imaginary man, with a frightening appearance, who is used as a threat to keep children quiet.

Have you ever heard yourself say such a phrase?

As one grows up, one learns that in reality who we have to fear is not an imaginary figure, however dark and gloomy he may be.

What could be the personification of the bogeyman in your opinion?

Sabino tells us his own through a story that starts with a disappearance.

The investigation leads to a shortlist of hypothetical suspects who could be ‘the bogeyman’ in perhaps a more literal than figurative sense.

The writing gives the reader a glimpse of reality and describes the everyday life of Bari, which could however be the everyday life of the place where each of us lives.

I appreciated the realism through which the author tells the story, leading the reader to the way in which the Bogeyman Hunt ends.

I report the book among the winners of Giallo Festival for best supporting character.

Can you tell me which character is the protagonist of your fears? 

NIRVANA UNPLUGGED

NIRVANA UNPLUGGED

Nov 2, 2024 | BOOKS, MOVIES, BOOKS, MOVIES, MUSIC, MUSIC, ROCK, ROCK

Nirvana unplugged in New York, often known as MTV unplugged is first and foremost a high moment in music history to me.

For our very first chat here on the blog, almost five years ago now, I told you about the cardigan Kurt Cobain wore during the recording of this live show.

Then over time we talked a lot about music but never came back to what is really one of the most important memories for me.

First of all it is the memory of an emotion: the first time I listened to Come as you are without even getting to the end I was convinced that I would never like another song again.

Come as you are is perhaps the only one of Nirvana’s most popular songs, performed even during unplugged, I think precisely because of its characteristic intense intimacy.

But every single song performed during MTV unplugged is beautiful.

The cover of The Man Who Sold the World in my opinion beats even the White Duke.

Where did you sleep last night is poignant to the point of almost materialising Kurt’s suffering.

And then Dumb, About a Girl, Pennyroyal Tea … which is your favourite?

Sadly released posthumously Unplugged in New York with every listen reminds us of the pain and loss of an artist who would now be a grandfather, as his Frances Bean became mother to Ronin at the end of September.

Many tales and anecdotes about 18 November 1993 chase each other all over the place, but what we can all still see is Kurt arriving, and after a simple ‘Good evening’ he introduces About a girl by attacking his guitar ride.

The rest is magic, atmosphere, white flowers, candles, drapes and soft lights, like metaphorical arms that welcome us into an immersion of music and sensations, simplicity and depth at the same time, where everything else is stripped away, the whole world is outside, where all that counts is the lightness of a faint breath destined to fade away but which in reality can only remain engraved in the memory forever.

Extreme vulnerability yet disruptive power.

Nirvana Unplugged is one of the gifts I cherish, it is 30 years old today and yet I’m never tired of listening to it again.

I treasure it along with Kurt Cobain Diaries

Nirvana unplugged

and Montage of Heck, which I saw at the cinema earlier anyway.

Nirvana unplugged

On the off chance that you’ve missed something, I recommend catching up: I find it indispensable to understand the deep torment of a Soul torn between the love of music and the pain of life.

I wish I was like you
Easily amused
Find my nest of salt
Everything is my fault

I’ll take all the blame
Aqua seafoam shame

TELL ME A STORY

TELL ME A STORY

Oct 19, 2024 | STORIES

Raccontami una storia – Tell me a story is an initiative by Maria Guidi, La tana di Aloiz  and Sandra Giannetto. 

Raccontami una storia is a game that consists of writing a story following certain directions and a theme.

The theme of the second edition: ‘drawing inspiration from a painting!’

I suggest you follow the organisers to discover interviews with the three winners.

Then, if you feel like it, you can read my story: 

Even this morning, I am watching the sun rise beyond the skeleton of the building opposite: since the soft orangey pink has begun to contrast with the grey illuminating the sky and hope, I don’t want to miss the colours because they are proof that it is not over yet.

I thought I would never see them again, I thought my punishment for not having exploded yet was to become a useless part of a single inexorable leaden gloom.

I regret that I was unable to count the days accurately, that I succumbed to confusion, that I did not even take care of my memory.

Had I done so, I might now know how much time had passed.

But I didn’t want to think any more, I just wanted it all to end. Each new day was just another skipped meal, another interminable darkness strewn with anguish, another series of exhausting yet unsuccessful efforts in search of an impossible solution.

Instead, the light has begun to mark time again and I now believe it, it is not just a dream, nor a coincidence, nor even my illusion: the sun still exists.

One enemy lurks, however: fear.

I have not been hit, I have not been crushed, I have not been asphyxiated, and I have even managed to hide from the incursions of the human jackals, but I still cannot free myself from the grip that presses on my brain and paralyses me.

I tell myself it makes no sense.

Then I relive everything.

The gigantic ball igniting the sky and suddenly bouncing upwards, and immediately the shockwave.

A macabre, accelerated domino that shatters everything.

Without my eyes having time to see, the heat was already on me.

Pain is not food.

But I must eat more of it if I am to find real nourishment.

And then Frances is at the end of her tether, and I want to do everything I can, just as she did from the moment she dragged me by weight into the cistern until she taught me how to climb down the shaft to the warehouse.

She held the rope and sang U2 to give me courage

You’r in the mud
In the maze of her imagination
You love this town
Even if that doesn’t ring true…

The first time I wanted it to stop but I didn’t dare shout it out for fear that some of the marauding Huns would hear me. Yet if it hadn’t been for those sung words ‘sky falls, you feel like … it’s a beautiful day …’ I wouldn’t have been able to find enough strength to climb back up.

The more things I could carry, the longer I could rest in hiding again.

And to think that on the various occasions when I had more or less tried, I had never managed to climb up a rope: my hands burned within minutes and the non-existent muscles in my arms didn’t even pretend to contract.

Survival.

A huge challenge to overcome in order to stay alive, even when staying alive seems like the worst of ideas.

Adrenaline, instinct, terror, mixing in a closed circle of pulsations bouncing between heart and brain at uncontrollable speed.

Survival.

Force that becomes flesh split between two heads: hope and despair. Like a Cerberus whose paws rest on the breath with all their agonising weight.

Survival.

Thinking that there can never be anything worse until existence turns into waiting.

Waiting for respite, waiting for food, waiting for mercy. Waiting for a miracle, for help, for a new day.

Like today.

The painting is Light and Colour (Goethe’s Theory) by William Turner.

WIKIPEDIA When the Internet is a matter of life and death

WIKIPEDIA When the Internet is a matter of life and death

Jul 20, 2024 | BOOKS, INTERNET

WIKIPEDIA When the Internet is a matter of life and death.

The Power of Knowledge kills the Knowledge of Power.

A sentence, a play on words, the key to a dream.

Aaron Swarzt’s dream, the dream of those who believe in freedom.

Pietro Ratto in his book Wikipedia When the Internet is a matter of life and death meticulously reconstructs the birth, history and evolution of the online encyclopaedia we all know.

Wikipedia content is added by voluntary users who contribute information that is shared as creative commons.

The idea was born from a dream, and is fuelled by a strong need for freedom.

Wikipedia’s aim is to spread knowledge and make it available to everyone, free of charge and universally.

The Power of Knowledge.

Can the Power of Knowledge really kill the Knowledge of Power?

Power is influence, power is domination.

How far can a dream be magnified?

Pietro Ratto’s valuable investigation reports on all the stages and, above all, all the stories of those who have been dreamers, those who have been creators and those who have been powerful …

The bibliography, or rather the sitography is extensive and very detailed.

In addition, every single link published in the book is available for consultation from the site of Pietro Ratto BoscoCeduo. 

I am particularly grateful for the opportunity to hear Aaron Swartz’s story, which should be shared out of a sense of justice but also of freedom. 

Here is a video from 2007 in which Aaron talks about network communication.

Are you in the habit of consulting Wikipedia?

Have you ever contributed to the writing and publishing of information?

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