Cielo sulla palude

It is one of the best Christian movies ever done ,in Italian neorealism ,along with Rossellini' s "Europe 51" .But this one is based on a true story ,and unlike Rossellini's work ,takes place in a destitute world.

The depiction of the large family plagued by poverty ,malaria ,whose only thing they own is their soul,is deeply moving. In those times hard on the poor , a wealthy countess takes pity on them and they are hired on her farm .The elder daughter , Maria ,has a moving relationship with her dad who promises her pie in the sky ;after his death, no man will come between her and a boy eaten with desire .And she is nurtured in a milieu where man dominates .

Ines Orsini 's beaming face and overall performance is close to perfect ; in spite of a stodgy seedy Sunday school where the pupils learn by heart sentences they often do not understand ,Maria's faith survives this hard teaching : to go to school ,she has a long way to go ,across the swamp : cinematographically ,these sequences are the summit of the movie : the girl, rowing her boat through the trees , in the dim light of dawn , is superbly filmed .One almost expects a divine apparition (like Bernadette de Lourdes,in France )

The rise of Alessandro's desire is subtly depicted: first it might be a romantic story down by the sea ,which the seashell may suggest :but as soon as Maria returns from the sea , she lifts a little her dress,and the boy's eyes are fixed on her legs;from that moment on, the boy sees her as a prey,a sexual object ; he's a bestial human being who salivates like a Pavlov's dog .The steward's son, he represents the Devil who can prevent her from meeting again her late dad in Heaven .

The splendor of the black and white pictures , the excellence of the performances (Inès Orsini ,but also Mauro Mattuci and Giovanni Martella),make "ciello sulla palude" a movie which can appeal even to non-believers.