What a waste of my time!!!

Really Surprised!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This is the very timely story of the relationship between a priest and a teen who wants to be one in modern day Naples. It is portrayed as a pure, honest, innocent relationship on the part of both.While most of the people close to either of them are aware of the relationship after Nunzio moves into the church, it is refreshing to see how they treat it in an almost matter-of-fact manner. There is some minor ribbing by some acquaintances but nothing like the mean-spirited harsh torture a boy in modern America who willingly participated would be subjected to.When Fr. Borelli refuses to compromise his morals and silence his campaign against the camorristas (mafia), a campaign is launched to have the boy denounce him.This is one of the most sympathetic portrayals (better than L.I.E., up there with Man Without a Face) ever shown on screen, and is also commendable as showing how social workers and those in one's environment can pressure youths into denouncing even those seen as close friends. An important film in its genre. 9 Caution: explicit scenes but no full frontal nudity.DATE: 2002-07-18 " - ricrisci

For Gods sake, The priest is not a child molester! Why does everyone keep saying that? When two people have consensual sex, morality does not come into it. I don't get this whole new hatred and paranoia if two inter-generational lover decide to express their desires sexually? All love is the same, emotional blackmail, games and little tiffs are always involved, whether one partner is 13 or 33, does not in the end matter so much. Upon seeing this film I felt that the priest had some admirable traits and was basically a good Samaritan caught up in a web of politics and mafia. When his enemies chance upon his sexual preference (and the fact that he as a catholic priest had sex)they use it as a tool to sideline and destroy his reputation. I felt that the film, far from being some moral conundrum is actually a good attempt at showing the hypocrisy of the times we live in. One thing though, the acting (having been done by obvious non-pros) is about average.

While most of the above comments pretty much describe the film, I saw one thing though, that I don't agree with. I didn't see the priest as molesting the very handsome Nunzio. They seemed to have a mutually consensual relationship. The boy went to the priests room, and is seen "flirting" with the priest at dinner. While Nunzio had a young girl friend, and spoke with friends about girls, he also seemed to care for the priest, and never tried to turn down the advances. The fact that he was not ready to cooperate with the investigation on the priest also shows me his concern for their relationship. The city street scenes and music I thought all lent to the validity of the time and place in the film. Even if the subject matter is not to ones liking, it is still an interesting film for the scenes, music, and other personalities in the film.

In Naples a priest begins a campaign against the Camorra. He's particularly vulnerable in that he has a "relationship" with 13-year-old Nunzio an alter boy, semi orphan and talented singer. The priest in this film is both a hero in his fight against the Camorro and a villain in his abuse or molestation of Nunzio. Lest the priest be too sympathetic a character there is Gigi an older boy who apparently was the priest's last protégé who appears at the beginning of the film and complains that the priest doesn't seem to have time for him anymore. `Things change' he's told. The audience is left to judge for themselves as the priest seems to harbor no guilt about his actions and the boy says that he enjoyed the affection. This is another of those films that deal with morality at the uncomfortable border between what is rightfully the business of a society and what is better left as a private matter between consenting partners.