''Boys on the Outside'' ( it, Ragazzi fuori, idiomatically ''Hustlers Outside'') is a 1990 Italian
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Marco Risi
Marco Risi (born 4 June 1951) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, film producer and cinematographer.
Born in Milan, he is son of director Dino Risi. After graduating from Liceo Scientifico, Risi joined the faculty of philosophy, but aband ...
in the
neo-neorealistic style and written by
Aurelio Grimaldi
Aurelio Grimaldi (born 22 November 1957) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. His film '' The Whores'' was entered into the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.
Selected filmography
* '' Ragazzi fuori'' (1990)
* '' The Rebel'' (1993)
* '' The ...
.
Released in 1990, it is the sequel to the 1989 film ''
Forever Mery
''Forever Mary'' ( it, Mery per sempre), is an Italian dramatic film directed by Marco Risi and released in 1989. It stars Michele Placido, Claudio Amendola, Alessandra Di Sanzo, Francesco Benigno, Roberto Mariano, Maurizio Prollo, Filippo Ge ...
''. It stars
Francesco Benigno,
Alessandra Di Sanzo and
Salvatore Termini.
Synopsis
''Boys on the Outside'' is the sequel of the 1989 drama film ''Forever Mery'', and features most of the same characters. The film is largely set in
ZEN
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
, a bleak, economically deprived quarter on the northern outskirts of
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, at the end of the 1980s. Its protagonist is ''Natale Sperandeo'' (played by Palermo-born actor Francesco Benigno), a young man who has just been released from Malaspina, a juvenile detention centre. Unable to find legitimate work, he takes up with his former gang, consisting of unemployed youths like himself, and perpetrates an armed robbery.
The film also traces the divergent paths taken by his former inmates at Rosaspina (actual name ''Malaspina''), such as ''Marilyn "Mery" Libassi'', who resumes her previous career as a
trans
Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of".
Used alone, trans may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
* ''Trans'' (film ...
prostitute while awaiting trial for her self defense assault on a client; ''Claudio Catalano'', while seeking to avoid the vindictive ''Carmelo Vella'' (who blames Claudio for the loss of his left eye), obtains work as a mechanic in another neighbourhood, but shortly afterwards discovers his girlfriend, ''Vita'' is pregnant; ''Antonino Patané'' is forced to push drugs in order to maintain his two small children after the
financial police sequester his potatoes which Antonino was selling without a license; and ''Giovanni Trapani'', nicknamed ''King Kong'' and a member of Natale's gang, is fatally shot by a
plainclothes police officer outside the open-air
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
of
Vucciria
La Vucciria is an ancient, large market or bazaar area and neighborhood, with shops and tables selling products, produce, and foodstuffs located in the ancient quarter of Castellammare of central Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy. It consists of nu ...
after a long chase through the streets of Palermo for having robbed a car radio.
''Boys on the Outside'' accurately depicts the social problems faced by Natale and his companions, such as crime, poverty, unemployment, prostitution, teenage pregnancy, and police harassment, which were indelible features of life in the poorer districts of Palermo and other Sicilian cities during that time period. It is a drama with realistic scenes of sex, violence,
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
, and rape. It ends with the discovery of the body of a young man, burnt beyond recognition, on a refuse tip. It is presumed to be that of Claudio, although the film never reveals its identity. The
Italian language
Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...
is spoken throughout the film mixed with the Palermo dialect of the
Sicilian language
Sicilian ( scn, sicilianu, link=no, ; it, siciliano) is a Romance language that is spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. A variant, ''Calabro-Sicilian'', is spoken in southern Calabria, where it is called Southern Calabro ...
.
Cast
*
Francesco Benigno - Natale Sperandeo
*
Alessandra Di Sanzo - Mario Libassi (Mery)
* Roberto Mariano - Antonio Patanè
* Maurizio Prollo - Claudio Catalano
* Alfredo Li Bassi - Carmelo Vella
*
Salvatore Termini - Giovanni Trapani (King Kong)
* Filippo Genzardi - Matteo Mondello
* Enza Attardo - Vita
* Carlo Berretta - Salvo
* Giuseppe Pirico - Marcello
* Giuseppe Lucania - Santino
* Alessandro Calamia - Tommaso
*
Tano Cimarosa
Tano Cimarosa, real name Gaetano Cisco, (1 January 1922 – 24 May 2008) was an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. He participated in more than fifty movies.
He played the "Blacksmith" in the Oscar-winning film ''Cinema Paradiso'' fr ...
- Site manager
*
Guia Jelo - Prostitute
*
Tony Sperandeo
Tony Sperandeo (born 8 May 1953) is an Italian actor of cinema and television. Sperandeo is notable for frequently playing the roles of tough characters from his native region, Sicily. As of 2011, he was working on ''La Nuova Squadra'', a police ...
- Warder Turris
Awards
Francesco Benigno won two awards, the ''Ciak d'Oro'' at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
, and ''Premio Piper'', for Best Actor in his portrayal of ''Natale Sperandeo''. In 1991, Marco Risi won the
David di Donatello Award for Best Director,
and
Claudio Bonivento won for Best Producer.
Franco Fraticelli
Franco Fraticelli (30 August, 1928 in Rome, Italy – 26 April 2012 in Rome) was an Italian film editor with more than 150 film credits. Fraticelli was director Dario Argento's editor of choice from his earliest films ('' The Bird with the Crystal ...
was nominated for Best Editing.
See also
*
List of Italian films of 1990
A list of films produced in Italy in 1990 (see 1990 in film):
See also
* 1990 in Italian television
References
External linksItalian films of 1990at the Internet Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Films Of 1990
1990
Lists of 1990 fi ...
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, 0100454
1990 films
1990 drama films
Films set in Palermo
1990s Italian-language films
Sicilian-language films
Films directed by Marco Risi
Italian drama films