Search - Ciao, Professore! on DVD

Completely Magical!

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 05/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"CIAO, PROFESSORE is a film that deserves to be in everyone's collection. Every aspect of this utterly charming story is so well done that it feels perfect. Based on actual 3rd grade children's essays from a school outside of Naples, Italy, the script sings and dances in words that only children could have spoken. Lina Wertmuller takes this fine script and populates it with fine actors: Paolo Villaggio is inimitable as the Professor who comes form Northern Italy to the squalor of Southern Italy with all of the ideals of a dedicated teacher in place - or out of place, as he finds in the poverty and crime stricken city of Corsano; Isa Danieli is the coarse and world-hardened Principal of the school; and the children who begin as renegades and slowly enter a mutual transformation with the Professore are played by 'non-professional actors' gleaned from Naples. The children steal the show, so individual and committed are they to their roles. A film about poverty and misguided kids could be depressing, but Wertmuller and her fine cast make this a celebration of the human spirit without ever dipping into bathos. This is one of the finest movies about the teacher/student relationship that has ever been made -and that is saying a lot. Highly Recommended."

"Me, let' shope I'll make it" - Simple and touching film

Alessandro Bruno | Toronto, Canada | 12/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this film several times - I was born and went to elemntary and grade school in Naples - as it reminded me all to well of both the incredible warmth, generosity and spirit of my fellow Neapolitans as well as the many evil and decaying aspects of life that persist. I was lucky enough to live in the City itself and go to a better school; however, the film is actually based on very real events and is merely somewhat adapted to ease the translation into film. The movie - and most of the dialogue - is based on a book that collected the essays of grade 3 students in the De Amicis school in Arzano, a poor suburb of Naples, in the late 80's. The teacher had collected the genuine and honest tales of life as precieved by his students. In the film the teacher comes from another city through bureaucratic error; in the book he's as Neapolitan as pizza. The excellent children actors - who were chosen among regular school children in Arzano (called Corsano in the film) - in fact use dialogue that is lifted directly from the essays. Unfortunately, to capture the full humor, knowing Italian is not enough, it's necessary to understand Neapolitan dialect and the psychology of Neapolitans. One of my favorite characters - apart from the briosche loving fat kid (I love briosche also) is the old and very sarchastic uncle who advises the baby that life is tough and hardly a collection of smiles. Like all Wertmuller's films, this one has a lot of humanity and is ultimately optimistic about the future of humanity. i suppose that's why she chooses so many of her film subjects among the very human people of Naples."

Fantastic Experience - and Educational for Americans

Mike | New Jersey | 11/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ciao, Professore! is an absolutely wonderful Italian film dealing not only with the cleverness and light-heartedness of children, but also with the unfortunate political and social problems that rage in Southern Italy. The film, though distinctly European, does not assume too much of the viewer in any respect, and one has the opportunity to see how Italians view the North/South and regional splits that continue to fragment the country. The tale, following the exploits of a middle class teacher transferred by accident to a lower class elementary school, shows how the Northern teacher and Southern students gain respect for one another and reconcile their differences. The film is not afraid to comment on Southern problems that include crime, pollution, and poverty, nor on the people who endure these for the sake of their families and children. If you are tired of mob films that spin Italians in a negative light, come learn how wonderful these people really can be. An amusing comedy that the whole family can watch together...simple enough for children and sophisticated enough for adults. Five stars."

Ciao Professore !

Lorraine A. Manfredi | North Scituate, RI USA | 03/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie, of a professore from the North, who gets transferred in error to a village outside of Napoli is a funny but sobering look at the conditions that the southerners had to live with and still do. You'll love the approach of the film to the societal problems of the south, you'll laugh and then want to cry, all at the same moment. If your family origins are from southern Italy, the memories of our dialect are unmistakable, enjoyable, nostalgic and funny."