Kidnapped

2023 2h 14m IT

👍

7.3

SOLID

🍅

86%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★7.3TMDB · 392🍅86%Rotten Tomatoes●75Metacritic★7IMDB · 4,886

DramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The story of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Enea Sala
Edgardo Mortara (child)
Leonardo Maltese
Edgardo Mortara
Paolo Pierobon
Pio IX
Fausto Russo Alesi
Momolo Mortara
Barbara Ronchi
Marianna Mortara
Andrea Gherpelli
Angelo Padovani
Samuele Teneggi
Riccardo Mortara
Corrado Invernizzi
Giudice Carboni

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Marco Bellocchio
Writers: Daniela Ceselli, Edoardo Albinati, Marco Bellocchio
Languages: Hebrew, Italian, Latin
Countries: Italy, France, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 29% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 3 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Hebrew, Italian, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Italy, France, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Marco Bellocchio, shot by Francesco Di Giacomo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Fabio Massimo Capogrosso. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Francesca Calvelli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Enea Sala and Leonardo Maltese and Paolo Pierobon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Marco Bellocchio directs. Francesco Di Giacomo behind the camera. Fabio Massimo Capogrosso scores. Francesca Calvelli cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Italy, France, Germany. Dialogue in Hebrew, Italian, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 29% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 3 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Hebrew, Italian, Latin.
4International production across 3 countries: Italy, France, Germany.
5Directed by Marco Bellocchio, shot by Francesco Di Giacomo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Fabio Massimo Capogrosso. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Francesca Calvelli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Enea Sala and Leonardo Maltese and Paolo Pierobon carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt14137416 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Francesco Di Giacomo
Original score: Fabio Massimo Capogrosso
Editing: Francesca Calvelli
Production design: Andrea Castorina
Costume design: Sergio Ballo
Makeup / hair: Enrico Iacoponi
Runtime: 134 min · 2h 14m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $14,100,000
Box office: $4,123,091
Return: 29% of budget
Original language: IT
IMDB: Kidnapped (2023)
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 75/100
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 4,886 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

20 wins & 16 nominations total

Also by

Marco Bellocchio

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-04-27
★ 7/10
Based on a bizarre true story, this follows the tale of the young Edgardo Sala who was living quite happily with his Jewish parents and siblings in Bologna until an official arrives one evening to tell them he is to be removed from their care. Why? It appears that many years earlier when he was in his cradle, he has been baptised and so must therefore be looked after by the church. Despite their appeals and protestations, he is swiftly taken to Rome where he is enrolled in a Catholic school where his is pretty thoroughly indoctrinated into the ways of his new Church - even becoming of special interest to Pope Pius IX (Paolo Pierobon). The story really centres around the trial many year later of the Papal Officer Feletti (Fabrizio Gifuni) after the city had become part of the Italian Kingdom, and those proceedings are used to fill in some of the backstory and to test the theories of responsibility of actions done in the name of the State. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the young man grows up to become conflicted - his love of Jesus struggles with his love of family and of the Talmud that was so important to him as a child. What I didn't really understand was just why the Pope would ever been at all interested in the fate of a small Jewish lad when the Papal States were in permanent decline, but Marco Bellochio uses a solid cast and a sparing, but frequently impassioned, amount of dialogue to deliver a stylishly made intrigue that show the last vestiges of the once all-powerful Papacy and of the inconsequential hopes of a family and a small boy.

Production companies