Italian Movie Night at Gallery 40

Il treno dei bambini

Director: Cristina Comencini

2024, 1h46min

Amerigo Speranza has a destiny in his name: his first name is like the distant land where his father (perhaps) emigrated in search of fortune, and his surname evokes the very feeling that will convince his mother to send him away from the Spanish Quarter of Naples to an unknown North, where perhaps the Communists eat children, but perhaps, instead, they save them from poverty.

The North is Emilia Romagna, considered “the model for left-wing Italians,” a region made up of simple yet hospitable and generous people. In the post-war years, they welcomed many children from the South, offering them not only the opportunity to attend school and have three meals a day but also to dream of a different future. This is what happens to Amerigo, who, as we learn from the opening scenes, becomes a famous violinist. But we…