Tonight’s Must-Watch: This 4.1-Rated Italian Film is the Decade’s Most Thrilling

In 1852, when he was only one year old, young Edgardo Mortara, born to a Jewish family, was secretly baptized by a servant in the household who feared for his life as he had fallen seriously ill. Five years later, soldiers of Pope Pius IX stormed into the Mortara home and forcibly removed the child from his family.

Following his abduction, the boy was placed in a seminary designed to convert Jews and Muslims to the Catholic faith. “The Kidnapping” follows his journey and his parents’ struggle to reclaim him and reintegrate him into their original culture and family, all amid a backdrop of significant political events.

Why It’s a Must-Watch

Following “The Traitor” (2019), which focused on the life of the infamous mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta, Marco Bellocchio delivers another ambitious film with “The Kidnapping,” based on the real-life “Mortara case.”

Bellocchio’s strength lies in transforming this tragic story into a magnificent opera—a theme dear to him—even as many scenes unfold in the dark, enclosed world of the Church at the time. Despite the breadth of his narrative, Bellocchio crafts moments of profound intimacy, seamlessly blending this personal story within the larger historical context.

Spielberg Was Interested in Directing

Before Marco Bellocchio took on the project, Steven Spielberg had shown interest in it. In 2016, the director of “Jurassic Park” planned to make a film about the Mortara case, featuring Mark Rylance in front of the camera and Tony Kushner (known for “Munich,” “Lincoln”) as the screenwriter. This movie was supposed to be shot after “Ready Player One.”

At that time, Spielberg was supposed to collaborate with producer Harvey Weinstein (before the #MeToo movement emerged), but disagreements between the two led Weinstein to pursue a different adaptation of the case on his own, with Robert De Niro cast and Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur at the helm. Ultimately, neither of these projects came to fruition.

Tonight at 9 PM on Arte

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