I’m Not Scared

When Michele Antrano, fifth grade, looks down into the hole for the first time we are looking up at him from inside the hole. We can see the curve of the hole going all the way from half way up the left-hand frame to the same height on the right. He is leaning over, his upper body visible with the blue of the sky meeting the upper frame. The effect is of an eye ball, Michele’s head as the pupil.

This is a world of seeing. Seeing the truth, seeing the corruption, seeing the poverty, searching for love, searching for escape, searching for guidance.

Filipo, inside the hole, is looking for death, and thinks he is already dead. How else could he deal with what has happened. Michele must then be an angel. Indeed, Michele is framed like an angel when he enters the hole for the second time. The light from above creates a halo around him. He stands out tall from the darkness, the camera low adding height and stature. He is Michele: Guardian Angel, a role that nearly costs him his life.

Filipo, on the other hand, has been shot like a zombie, arms outstretched head down creating shadows, before being raised to reveal his eyes stuck together with congealed puss. We see his arms from his POV, like in a video game. Filipo cannot see the truth, cannot see anything. Is this because he is from the wealthy North with their helicopters, gondolas, bright blue vans?