Movie review «The Children’s Train» / Il treno dei bambini

On December 4th, the Italian historical drama «The Children’s Train» was released on the Netflix platform. Its plot is based on the eponymous historical novel by Italian writer Viola Ardone, which was published in 2019. In the review below, we discuss the post-war Italian initiative it revolves around and how touching this dramatic story is overall.

«The Children’s Train» / Il treno dei bambini

Genre historical drama
Director Cristina Comencini
Cast Barbara Ronchi, Serena Rossi, Christian Cervone, Stefano Accorsi, Giorgia Arena, Francesco Di Leva, Antonia Truppo, Beatrice Schiros, Monica Nappo, Nunzia Schiano, Dora Romano
Premiere Netflix
Year of release 2024
Website IMDb

Naples, 1946. In the semi-destroyed city, poverty and hardship prevail. Antonietta Speranza is raising her 8-year-old son Amerigo on her own. The family, like many others, lives in poverty, and the harsh circumstances affect the mother-son relationship, as the exhausted woman perceives her son as nothing less than a «punishment from God», although, of course, she loves him with all her heart. The young boy is forced to work odd jobs and help his mother as much as possible at his age, while attending school was out of the question.

Given the situation, Antonietta decides to take the opportunity to send her son to the north of the country. He will have a chance to temporarily live with a family that will provide him with food, care, good living conditions, and even send him to school. Initially, young Amerigo, scared by stories that the children are transported for horrific tortures, is wary of his mother’s decision. But the boy does not yet suspect that this journey will change his life forever.«The Children’s Train» talks about a real initiative of solidarity «Treni della felicità», which took place in post-war Italy and was organized by the local Communist Party (with support from the Union of Italian Women). As part of this initiative, families from the central and northern regions of Italy took in over 70,000 Italian children from the south. Over a few years, the children returned to their families, but often they kept in touch with those who had sheltered them. And sometimes, they ended up staying with their new families.

«Treni della felicità» literally translates from Italian as «trains of happiness» because children were literally transported by entire trains. And watching the film immediately brings to mind another plot about children affected by World War II in train cars — «One Life» with Anthony Hopkins, which was shown in cinemas last summer and has not yet faded from memory. However, that film was about Jewish children evacuated from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia at the end of the 1930s, while this one occurs in Italy after the war.

Additionally, «Life» was a biographical drama, primarily about British philanthropist Nicholas Winton, thanks to whom the rescue happened. In «The Children’s Train», the main character is young Amerigo Speranza, so the film turns into an ode not to any specific historical figure, but to children and mothers of all wars in general, as confirmed by the final title. Indeed, today, who but Ukrainian children and mothers know what war is, constant air raids, and bombings organized by russian bastards.

And the little rascal, along with his peer, paints ordinary rats white to sell them as live fur, but an untimely downpour exposes their deceit. Then we learn that the woman has already lost one child. Then we see how hard it is for her to part with her son. Unfortunately, this segment rather provokes indifference.

The story unfolds better and becomes more interesting when Amerigo arrives in his new family. His temporary mother, the kind-hearted Derna, had not planned to take in a child, but circumstances forced her to do so. Gradually, absolutely strangers to each other become closer, and the boy grows attached to his new family. Instead of painting rats, he is gifted a violin and discovers a remarkable talent for music. It is here that the audience is given the opportunity to rejoice for the child, and these emotions, which were previously lacking, become somewhat redeeming.From an emotional, empathetic standpoint, «One Life» looks more appealing. Both films have saved a touching finale that claims the audience’s tears. But the ending of the film with Hopkins hits right in the heart, not to mention that it features such a notable acting figure as Sir Anthony. «The Children’s Train» appears much more modest, emotionally drier, and less talentedly played.