Bellocchio film on abducted Jewish boy wows Cannes, critics

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 24 - The latest film by veteran Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio, Rapito (Kidnapped), the true story of a six-year-old Jewish boy abducted by Pope Pius IX in the mid 19th century, wowed the Cannes Film Festival Tuesday night receiving an ovation of 13 minutes.
    The film, which 83-year-old Bellocchio has said he would like Pope Francis to see, also impressed the critics with the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw giving it five out of five stars under the title "Marco Bellocchio's antisemitism drama is a classic in the making".
    The article said: "Based on the true story of a young Jewish boy kidnapped by papal authorities, this is a full-tilt melodrama that lays bare tyranny, bigotry and the abuse of power in the Catholic church." Bradshaw said: "I thrilled to this movie: the moment when the pope playfully hides Edgardo in his cloak while he plays hide-and-seek is an extraordinary parallel to when he first hid in his mother's skirts. My heart was in my mouth when Edgardo is carried off by the brutal authorities. And at the end, when the older, agonised Edgardo comes to see his mother on her deathbed, Bellocchio creates a denouement that made me gasp.
    "This already looks like a classic." Variety agreed with Bradshaw's assessment with reviewer Jessica King saying the film was "an imposing almost Dickensian classic...a film that is warmly recommended". (ANSA).