Nemmeno il destino

Alessandro and Ferdi are friends from secondary school and live in a dilapidated industrial town. Both are looking for their own place in the world, for an oasis in the rubbish left behind by the deserted factories. Their family situation is also far from pleasant. Despite her attempts to lead a normal life, Alessandro's unmarried mother is repeatedly the prisoner of a painful past. And Ferdi lives with his father, a former worker whose factory work has made him ill and who now fills his days with drink. Probably more unconsciously than consciously, both friends try to avoid the unattractive fate that is in store for them. But their attempts seem to be heading for tragedy. Nemmeno il destino is a story about the outer suburbs. The outer areas of a town and of the soul, of physical and mental space. The film is attractive in its photography, montage - so time now and then makes strange jumps - and location, while it sketches a harrowing portrait of kids growing up in an uneasy, occasionally even hostile world. All the actors, not only the protagonists, deserve a mention. The film provides a subtle portrait of a pregnant phase in life in which humour, passion, friendship and pain go hand in hand. The lives of both friends are difficult, but never without hope. (EH)