![Attorney Marco Mellone during oral arguments at the Court of Cassation in Rome, at the United Sections hearing on the 'child issue' | Photo: Reproduction/[source of the video]](https://italianismo.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/marco-mellone-600x337.jpg)
Italian director Marco Bellocchio's new film about the true story of a Jewish boy kidnapped by papal authorities to become a priest in Vatican will premiere in Brazilian cinemas on July 18th.
The production “The Kidnapping of the Pope” was nominated in 11 categories at the “David di Donatello” – the Italian Oscar -, including best film, director and adapted screenplay, and won best costumes, makeup and hair.
Bellocchio, who wrote the script with Susanna Nicchiarelli and Edoardo Albinati, tells one of the stories that shocked Italy in the 1858th century, that of the six-year-old Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara, kidnapped in XNUMX by the Catholic Church, from a politicized and critical perspective.
Suffering from a serious childhood illness, Mortara was reportedly subjected to a quick baptism rite performed by a Christian maid, who believed he would die.
The Church stated that it had received a report about the episode, and took custody of the boy, justifying that there was a law prohibiting non-Catholics from raising a Catholic child.
Mortara was then taken to the clergy under the custody of Pope Pius IX, to receive a Christian education. The parents, shaken and in disbelief, did everything to get their son back, but the pontiff did not accept giving the boy back.
The Supreme Court reaffirmed: citizenship is born with the person.
- New legal front opened
- Processes can still be filed.
- Individual assessment before any decision.
He only returned to his parents when he was already a teenager, 12 years later, but the family clashed over his acquired faith, and Mortara decided to return to Rome and become a priest.
The film made its debut in the competitive exhibition at the Cannes Film Festival and was also shown at the Toronto and New York Festivals. In an interview, Bellocchio says that the idea of the film was always to focus on strictly documented historical facts before letting the imagination fill in the gaps in that history.
“We know very little about the private lives of the characters, for example. The film's structure is supported by several historical pillars: the kidnapping in 1858, the trial in 1860, and the capture of Rome in 1870,” he explained.
The Italian filmmaker also says that the film is about the power of the Church that spans centuries and reaches the present.
“Naturally, what Eduardo Mortara experienced could never happen today, in a time of open dialogue and an extremely open-minded Pope. At that time, there was indeed a feeling that the Catholic faith could not be shaken,” added Bellocchio.
Finally, he highlighted that “this film does not seek to pit one side against the other”, but “this man's fate spoke to me and inspired me. His story filled me with feeling and tension. These emotions paved the way to shape the film. My empathy clearly goes out to the child who suffered an act of extreme violence.”
The production arrives in Brazil with distribution from Pandora Filmes. (HANDLE)
