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The Last Time We Were Children
2023
Director
Claudio Bisio
Runtime
106 minutes
Average Rating
No ratings yetSynopsis
Rome, summer 1943. Four children play war while the bombs of real war explode around them. Italo is the rich son of the Federal, Cosimo has his father in confinement and an atavistic hunger, Vanda is an orphan and a believer, Riccardo comes from a wealthy Jewish family. They are different but they don't know it and between them "the greatest friendship in the world" is born, impervious to the divisions of history that bloodies Europe. But on October 16 the Jewish boy is taken away by the Germans together with over a thousand people from the Ghetto. Thanks to Italo's father Federale, the three friends believe they know where he is and, to honor the "spit pact", decide to leave in secret to convince the Germans to free their friend. Yet another imaginative mission becomes reality, the three children travel alone in an Italy exhausted by war, among disbanded soldiers, deserters, occupying German troops, exhausted and hungry populations.
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Diversity & Representation
Overall Score
Good
Category Breakdown
LGBTQ+ Representation
The film does not feature explicit LGBTQ+ identities or non-cisnormative expressions. It maintains a neutral stance without utilizing derogatory tropes.
Gender Representation
The story centers the agency of children to subvert traditional patriarchal leadership. Vanda provides an independent female perspective outside of domestic hierarchies.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
The narrative disrupts homogeneity by centering Riccardo, a Jewish boy. The friendship between children of different social and ethnic backgrounds critiques systemic racial persecutions.
Religious & Cultural Diversity
The film critiques nationalist institutions by framing Fascist and German forces as destructive. It prioritizes human connection over state-mandated ideology and patriotism.
Disability Representation
There is no mention of characters with visible or invisible disabilities in the narrative.
Strengths
- Strong intersectional portrayal of religious and ethnic diversity through the central friendship.
- Effective critique of Fascist and nationalist institutions via a humanist lens.
- Subverts traditional gender roles by centering the agency of children in a war zone.
Areas for Improvement
- Lack of explicit LGBTQ+ representation or non-cisnormative gender expressions.
- Absence of characters with visible or invisible disabilities.
- Limited focus on diverse gender perspectives beyond the central group of children.
AI Analysis
The film excels at using a historical setting to critique the systemic oppression of the 1940s. By centering a diverse group of children, it disrupts conventional wartime tropes and highlights the agency of marginalized subjects. The strength of the work lies in its intersectional approach to friendship. The bond between a Jewish boy, an orphan, and the son of a Fascist official serves as a powerful metaphor for dismantling social and religious divisions. However, the film lacks representation for LGBTQ+ identities and characters with disabilities. While the focus on childhood agency is progressive, these specific demographic gaps limit the scope of its inclusivity.
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