This long-suppressed and controversial documentary was produced in
1961 for network television but never broadcast. Co-mingling cinema
verité and narrative techniques, the film offers a sensitive but
critical look at the slum called Cortile Cascino in the center of
Palermo, Sicily where poverty and early death are constants and where
the church and the Mafia compete for the inhabitants' fealty. The
established church, largely ignoring the plight of its parishioners,
nonetheless voices its outrage when a faith healer draws large crowds.
The Mafia runs an illegal slaughterhouse and controls the concession
to funerals but also distributes free food to the district's hungry
residents. In the face of relentless adversity, the women provide the
only stabilizing force. The neighborhood's despair is tragically
foregrounded in a sequence depicting the burial of baby who died of
malnutrition. The soundtrack is composed of comments by the people,
recorded and translated by the filmmakers.
cinema
1863
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30/01/2020 Last update