Jimmy on the Hill

Colour, 35 mm
Italy, 2006, 90 min
Section: Focus on New Italian Directors

Synopsis

Jimmy, who lives in a small town on Sardinia, wants to be a “somebody”, maybe a film star, especially since people occasionally tell him that, with his looks, he could easily get work in Hollywood. But he’s only got his job in the local refinery; for his entire short life, the huge factory has obscured his view into the far and dreamy distance. His naivety soon gets him involved in a house robbery but, instead of the gain and social ascent he had envisaged, this exploit lands him in prison. His feelings of failure, despair, isolation and defiance all prevent him from taking the good things the youth custody centre has to offer. He does learn a certain degree of self-control, but his presence of mind fails him at the critical moment. When he makes his way to the “hill”, where a group of delinquents headed by a priest work in natural surroundings in an atmosphere of tolerance and trust, Jimmy runs away at the first opportunity. But he has nowhere to aim for… Certain Italian critics describe this film as representing a revival of Neorealist traditions, particularly noticeable in the civil acting performances and in the authentic depiction of the given environment.

About the director

Enrico Pau (b. 1956, Sardinia) began with the theatre in the mid-1970s, where he acted and directed (incl. Sophocles and Beckett). He continues to write theatre reviews for the paper La Nuova Sardinia and, as a screenwriter, he also works for Sardinian radio (RAI Cagliari). In 1996 he made the short feature The Fox and the Bee (La volpe e l’ape), which was a hit at domestic and foreign festivals. Three years later he made his first documentary, featuring seven big Sardinian boxing names (The Stories of Boxers / Storie di pugili); another documentary offers a portrait of Sardinian poet Aquilino Cannas (L’Anatema di Aquilino, 2004). He debuted in 2001 with the feature film Pesi leggeri, whose heroes are amateur boxers from the suburbs of Cagliari. His second feature Jimmy on the Hill, based on the book by Massimo Carlotto, attests to the fact that his native Sardinia is his life-long passion.