‘Il Treno dei Bambini’ review: leaves some points along the way, but still leaves a lump in your throat

Director: Cristina Comencini | Script: Furio Andreott, Giulia Calenda, Cristina Comencini and others | Cast: Christian Cervone (Amerigo), Stefano Accorsi (volwassen Amerigo), Barbara Ronchi (Derna), Serena Rossi (Antonietta), Giorgia Arena (Rosa), ea | Playing time: 106 minutes | Year: 2024

A famous concert violinist receives a phone call just before his performance. His mother has passed away. An employee asks if he should cancel the concert, but Amerigo laughs. Business as usual! At least to the outside world; Something is definitely brewing inside. He remembers with mixed feelings his childhood years, just after the Second World War, when he lived with his mother in poor Naples. But his thoughts also turn to the train ride to an unknown destination that would change his life forever.

The children’s train tells the events surrounding the train trip and Amerigo’s relationship with his mother during those years. We only see the sixty-year-old version of Amerigo in a single scene after the opening. It’s clear that his mother loves her only son (she lost his brother when he was three), but she barely shows it. Another character tells Amerigo: “Your mother never had love and cannot give love.” It is the common thread of their lives, but then Amerigo, often surprisingly cheerful, comes into contact with another world.

The train trip for children is organized by the communist party and the wildest rumors spread among the young passengers. There is regular talk of Siberia and cannibalism. In fact, it is strange that parents who put their children on the train do not just say what is going to happen. This secret is primarily intended for the viewer to increase the dramatic effect, but it affects the credibility of the story. The children’s train He often has these kinds of tricks that don’t work well.

When the children at their destination in a dining room all look in silence at their well-filled plate, there is only one girl of silence who explains why they don’t want to eat it. Such a scene emphasizes how distrustful the children are, but it seems very artificial. In any case, there are a series of dialogues and interactions that are not a good representation of the mutual interactions of the schoolchildren.

Still, writing a believable script for this age group is no easy task and only works well from time to time. Usually the filmmakers want to put too much into the spoken texts and don’t let the children be children again. When Amerigo hears a violin for the first time, he says, “The music is beautiful. It has the power of a thousand thoughts.” It sounds profound, but of course it’s not a sentence uttered by a nine-year-old.

This is not the fault of the young actors, because they do their job well; By the way, old people do it too. The scrawny protagonist Christian Cervone easily wins over the viewer with his wide eyes and sensitive attitude. makes The children’s train Despite the script’s shortcomings, it’s still a pretty compelling movie that also looks great. The ruined Naples contrasts with the more idyllic places and everything exudes the atmosphere and image of the time.

This film is dedicated to children and mothers in all wars. During the closing credits, photographs are shown of the malnourished children who were actually put on that train in post-war Italy. The immense poverty is evident, but there are also smiling faces and hopeful looks. The last message of The children’s train it is one of unification, but also loss with a greater purpose. The film has a few stumbles along the way, but it still leaves you with a lump in your throat.

The children’s train can be seen in netflix.