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The author Niccolo Ammaniti Official Website

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The author Niccolo Ammaniti Official Website

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Overall, the book and film display different narrative qualities that explore the themes of fear, courage and morality. Both the original novel and the film portray these themes well in their own right, and readers of the book would be interested in the film and vice versa.

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In the novel, Michele builds up his sense of morality by finding Filippo, the boy in the hole. He first reacts to finding the trapped boy, in a sympathetic and strangely secretive way. As his curiosity gets the better of him, Michele continues to visit Filippo, and his empathy for him grows. This is inspired by the fact that Filippo is the same height and age as Michele, so it is easier for Michele to compare himself to Filippo. To make sense of his discovery, Michele contends that “he must be my brother”, which deepens his bond to Filippo. As Michele observes the state Filippo is in, and listens to the adults conversation, he slowly understands the cruel nature of men. The book presents this in a gradual way, building on the character development of Michele, using the simple and honest language choices of a child to give Michele an individual voice. Some of these subtle shifts in Michele’s awareness is hard to represent in the film and the actor playing Michele relies on facial expressions, gestures and actions. In a scene where Michele is interacting with Filippo, we see him encourage Filippo to open his eyes and see the beautiful golden wheat fields. This act of kindness and compassion sees Michele help Filippo, by carrying him piggyback in several mid shots through the wheat, to feel the restorative powers of the warm sun. We see a close up shot of Fillipo’s face, painfully struggling to open his eyes to the blinding white natural light. Michele is carrying him on his back and encourages him to open his eyes and look at the natural world around them. This act shows audiences that Michele is kind, compassionate and has a higher morality than Filippo’s kidnappers, who are driven by desperation and greed.

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Another fearful moment in the book and film is where Felice physically restrains Michele’s mother in their kitchen, which turns sexual. In the book, Michele witnesses his mother in a violent tangle with Felice, where her petticoat breaks, exposing her body. Felice’s gaze on his mother's body infuriates Michele, who changes from ‘whimpering in despair’ to trying ‘to kill him … throttle him’. In the film adaption, Giuseppe Cristiano acts as Michele, and gives a good performance of a child in indecisive fear and shock at watching his mother being overpowered by Felice. His acting style in this scene conveys fear by appearing frozen with a bloody nose in a close up shot, breathing heavily with wide disbelieving eyes. He looks down at Felice on top of his screaming mother, who is dressed only in her underwear. Cristiano makes small movements with his head back and forth, as if trying to make sense of what is unfolding before him and to dispel his fear to help his mother. This part of Cristiano’s performance as Michele is convincing and gives dramatic effect. Michele also displays courage and loyalty in breaking through his own fear to help his mother.

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The novel I’m Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti, published in 2001, is centred around Michele, a nine year old boy who lives with his impoverished family in Southern Italy. From Michele’s perspective, a sinister kidnapping plot unfolds that tests his morality and loyalty to his small community. As a work of fiction set in 1978, the book serves as a metaphor for the real wealth disparity in Italy at the time, which resulted in high number of kidnapping cases in Italy in the 1970s. I’m Not Scared is a study of the human condition, made simple by representing these themes through the innocent eyes of a child, that grows up all too quickly to realise that “Its men you should be scared of.” Following the book's success, the film adaption I’m Not Scared (Io Non Ho Paura) directed by Gabriele Salvatores, was released in 2003. Staying true to its origin as Italian literature, it is presented as an Italian language film with subtitles. While closely following the original narrative, the film has many differences that readers of the book would notice.

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I’m Not Scared written by Niccolo Ammaniti, and the film adaption, directed by Gabriel Salvatore.

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Google doc Instructions

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In the film, the characterisation of Michele and his fear is lost on audiences who have read the book. For example, in the scene where Michele discovers the boy in the hole, Salvatore uses a sharp three step transitional zoom to put the boy's leg in focus. Michele looks down in horror at the small dirty leg protruding out of a ragged blanket, illuminated by the natural light above. The abrupt, three step movement of the camera creates dramatic emphasis on the leg in an attempt to mirror the shock Michele must be feeling. The sudden sound of a scratchy violin accompanies the three step shots in an attempt to convey shock and surprise. However, this harsh transition seems cliche and highlights the film's age.

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In the novel, Niccolo Ammaniti uses the key emotion of fear as a mental obstacle that the main protagonist Michele must understand and overcome. This is represented in the novel's characterisation of Michele, who is a young boy with irrational fears of monsters and nightmares, as well as rational fears, such as the actions of adults. Written in Michele’s perspective, Ammaniti’s novel describes Michele’s character in an in-depth and honest way, a young boy who is frightened of ‘witches, ogres and werewolves'. This clearly illustrates to readers that Michele is a naive and imaginative nine year old child, who is still trying to make sense of the adult world. A key quote in the book is when Pino, Michele’s father, warns him that it is not monsters ‘but men you should be afraid of.’ How Michele overcomes his fears to display courage is more profound in the novel than the film. This is due to the book being more descriptive of Michele’s inner thoughts and providing extra details in the development of the plot, making the book appear more ‘human’ and believable.