User reviews

The stars of the movie are Giuseppe Fiorello as Lorenzo and Vittoria Belvedere as Antonia who are parents of Valentino, a little boy who has a severe form of asthma so much so that he is to be supervised and medicated daily. Vlentino has an attack at school brought on by the detergents used by the cleaner and this leads to the schools administration and the parents requesting that Valentino no longer attend the school as he is a difficult case. Antonia is a proud woman who races around on a motor bike and the locals regard her with contempt and see her as haughty and headstrong. They take Valentino out for a day on the water and he is so well that Antonia has the idea that they should build a boat and live on the water so that their son no longer has attacks. The movie follows their journey as they set about accomplishing this desire and the obstacles they face. But Antonia must face her pride which ostracizes her from the locals. She faces the townspeople in a church and begs them for their help so that her son can be well and grow up free of hospital stays. The locals see her then as a mother who is doing what she can for the love of her only son and their hardness and perception of her chances to one of admiration and understanding. The locals all pitch in and the boat is put on the water and everyone is there to see them off. the film closes with a footnote that the real child whose story is the basis of this movie has been on the water for the last two years and has suffered no further attacks and attends satellite school. It is movie full of emotion and feeling. the young child who plays Valentino, Mattia D'Alessio is excellent and it is a delight to hear a young child speak Italian.