A cultural moment

And there aren't that many of those around these parts, eh.
I saw Io Non Ho Paura today. It's a brilliant, brilliant Italian movie about two kids who have to deal with adults, poverty, and violence in 1978's southern Italy. I can't tell you much more than that because I don't want to ruin anything. It's based on a book by Niccolò Ammaniti (which I was told is great), and I was dragged there by two Italian-speaking and -loving friends. Why dragged? Because I have displayed a long-standing prejudice against all things Italian, especially (but not exclusively) Italian cinema. A prejudice which both girls have endeavoured to annihilate, but what can I say, old habits die hard, and even after seeing La Meglio Gioventù, even after seeing Buongiorno, Notte, even after seeing Respiro, Nuevo Cinema Paradiso, or Il Postino, and despite my love for Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio Gassman, every time I hear "do you want to come see such or such Italian movie?", I cringe.
Needless to say, so far, every time I've given in and gone along, I have been shamed in my dislike. All these movies are perfect in many ways, and I cannot recommend La Meglio Gioventù enough. And now, I couldn't do justice to Io Non Ho Paura if I tried. So I'll abstain, but you have to promise you'll see it. Promise?