Gabriele Santoro (Silvio Orlando) is getting old
is a piano teacher who lives alone in a large apartment in the troubled Forcella district of Naples. Everyone who watched the series “Gomorra” probably knows well who rules that old part of the city, and Gabriele meets with members of the Camorra every day. Everyone there, including the criminals who gather under his window, call him maestro, many of them were taught piano by Gabriele, and this withdrawn loner’s life will change completely when his moment of carelessness is taken advantage of by a 10-year-old boy from the neighboring apartment, Ciro.
He and his friend tried to pickpocket an old woman who turned out to be the mother of the head of a powerful clan. The old woman ended up in a coma, and all of Naples is now looking for Cira and his friend, and Cira’s father is ready to hand his son over to criminals to save the rest of the family. When he realizes that the kid has snuck into his apartment, Gabriele is not thrilled at first because he is aware that he could be putting himself in danger. But soon, even at the cost of risking his own safety, he will make the decision to hide the boy and try to save his life. The lonely Gabriele and the little fakin will soon develop a relationship almost like grandfather and grandson and will become emotionally attached to each other, but it is clear that hiding in the apartment cannot last forever.
All the more so because Gabriele’s former student, now a member of the Camorra, is constantly snooping around the apartment, and another boy was found dead in the neighborhood. Experienced screenwriter, director and writer Roberto Ando, who made “The Hidden Child” or “Il bambino nascosto” based on his own novel, slowly reveals to us some details from Gabriele’s life, and we understand that he is clearly fed up with hiding and giving in to bullies, which he has been doing throughout life. We understand that Gabriele decided to protect the boy at all costs, and this solid, emotional and interesting drama had the honor of closing the festival in Venice in 2021.