Red Like the Sky

This film is based on a true story

Come on, this way!

Come get me! Come on!

Can I play, too?

Okay, but you're 'it'.

Give him the blindfold.

Come on, over here!

Chicken!

Watch out!

Get out of the way!

- Watch out!

- Come on, Mirco!

Let me see.

Try and catch me!

Gotcha!

TUSCANY, SUMMER 1970

Gaetano! Here.

The leftover papers.

I'll give the money to Silvana.

Thanks, Achille. See you tomorrow.

- Let's go.

- Dad, listen.

If people can come in here

and read the paper for free,

...why should they buy one?

- It's more convenient.

At home, you can read it when you want.

On the sofa, at lunch.

Why don't we buy a television?

It's like the newspaper.

You take the cinema home

and watch movies when you want.

- Who's going to put up the money?

- You! With your truck.

Sure! Just like that!

Please! Everybody's got one.

All right, we'll put some money aside

and get one, too.

Can we play the dream game?

This is Vittorio Bonini

live from the Quirinal Hill,

where the President of the Republic

Giuseppe Saragat,

is meeting with Emilio Colombo

to charge him with forming...

Now you broke it, be careful!

- It's always the same story.

- I'll glue it later.

Just like your toy train.

It's been a year,

and there are still pieces all over.

Let him do it!

That way, he'll learn

how things are made.

Here, Mirco.

Screws, screwdriver...

Fix the pot for your mom.

It's about time.

Dad, it's late.

For what?

You said you'd take me.

I don't want to sit in the last row.

All right.

Come on! Hurry up!

Dad!

He took a shot at the Mexican.

- Who's first?

- You start!

Go on!

No! On the first shot!

I'll go glue it

I'll be right back.

Hurry, okay?

- Who starts?

- I do...

Cool!

Mirco!

RED LIKE THE SKY

All done! Good boy, Mirco,

we're all done.

Go wait in there

while I talk with your dad.

We'll be through in a minute.

Take your jacket and glasses.

Put them on!

Wait over there.

Mr. Balleri, what can I tell you?

As I understand it,

Mirco was lucky.

If he'd been shot full in the face,

he wouldn't be alive.

Yeah, at the hospital in Pisa

they couldn't believe it.

I had you come in because...

I can't send Mirco

back to school.

Why not? He hasn't got

an infectious disease.

It was only an accident.

He's better now, he's doing fine.

Your son can only see

shadows, now.

Didn't they tell you, at Pisa...

He'll improve... with treatment...

I realize he'll have to catch up.

But he's always been a good student.

If you won't take him,

where will I send him?

Mr. Balleri,

I know this isn't easy for you.

It's not up to us,

it's the law.

He can't attend a regular school,

it's against the law.

He needs to go to a school

for children like himself.

We'll have to find

an appropriate institution,

and I can suggest

the one I consider the best.

- Cassoni Institute.

- Where exactly is it?

- In Genoa.

- In Genoa?

- That's so far away.

- It's a boarding school.

It's run by a religious order.

You can visit him every month.

But Mirco's only ten.

He needs me, he needs his mom,

more than when he was a baby.

How can we send him off to school

in Genoa, where he doesn't know...

It's not up to us. It's the law.

Pass it to me!

Over here!

- Mirco, come play with us!

- No, I don't want to.

I'm tired.

Okay. Come on, keep going!

Come on, hurry!

This way.

The director is waiting.

You've made the right choice.

He'll learn a trade

suited to his abilities.

He can be a weaver,

or a switchboard operator.

Yes. The important thing is,

now he can finish grade school.

As far as figuring out

what he wants to do.

Well... there's time.

The problem is not what he wants

to do, but what he's able to do.

I'm convinced that

if he gets treatment...

If Mirco can get better, he will.

The most important thing is

for you to accept what has happened.

Otherwise, you can't help him.

All right, I think we're finished.

Mirco doesn't like vegetables.

You have to coax him to eat them.

And he likes a light on,

on his night table,

because he's afraid of the dark.

Even now.

A night light won't bother

the other children,

will it?

Here you go, here's your place.

Attention!

Starting today,

we have a new boy.

His name is Mirco Balleri.

I'm sure you'll make him

feel welcome right away.

And we'll give Mirco

his own little bag.

It's empty now, but every time

he does a good deed,

we'll add a kernel of corn.

When it's full,

you'll get a special prize.

We thank Thee, O Lord...

Hi, I'm Felice.

That's a name?

You kidding?

Yeah, that's my name: Felice!

Where are you from?

Pontedera, near Pisa.

In the name of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What are you doing?

Nothing. I just want to know

what you look like.

Leave me alone.

Hey, up Juventus!

- Who's down there?

- It's Mirco. Who're you?

Hi, Mirco! It's Felice!

Where are you?

Up in the tree, come on up!

The gardener's ladder

is down there.

- What are you doing up here?

- Relaxing.

And hiding from the meanest

of the mean kids. His name's Valerio.

- How come?

- Because he's a bully.

Why don't you fight back?

How? The whole class

does whatever he says.

If they catch me, they'll beat me up!

Listen...

what do kids do here?

Nothing special...

eat, study, sleep.

Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!

We get to go on a trip once a year,

and visit a sanctuary.

Hey, Mirco... can you see?

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