The Catholic School, the film that shocked Italy now on Netflix

47 years ago, on September 20, 1975, Italian society experienced one of the most heinous and painful crimes of the decade. That event is known as the Circeo massacre, an episode that caused anger and shock after accusing members of the bourgeois class. Now Netflix makes a date at that event in The Catholic School, film based on the novel by Edoardo Albinati published in 2016.

The film is directed by Stefano Mordini, Italian director known for films such as Steel, Borsellino’s Escort, The Invisible Witness and Los infieles. Mordini also participated in the script together with Massimo Gaudioso and Luca Infascelli, in this story that is added to the streaming platform.

The aforementioned crime was committed by three members of the Roman elite, who raped and beat 2 girls, resulting in the death of one of them. Both in Albinati’s novel and in Mordini’s film, they not only portray this event, but also extend to tell the environment in which the protagonists grew up, touching on themes such as religion, family and society.

The Catholic school, a portrait of the current sexist violence

Although it has been widely criticized how this adaptation is done without the entire political context that runs through the book, citing that the word “fascism” is only mentioned once, the film’s director explained that this adaptation is more aimed at portraying sexist violence, a problem we continue to experience today.

At the press conference of the Catholic schoolMordini specified: “In narrating the Circeo crime, I did not want to highlight a political conflict, but a gender conflict in which a man exercises violence against a woman and therefore against the entire female world”, clarified the director.

Even one of the actresses in the film, Federica Tortelli He also stressed: “The film is current: gender-based violence still exists. Nowadays there are more and more women who denounce, but often as victims they are accused ”, underlined the actress during the press conference.

The authors of The Circeo massacre Angelo Izzo and Gianni Guido were arrested, as well as Andrea Ghira, who managed to escape. They were children of wealthy and powerful families in Rome, who proved to have ties to the far right and had been involved in fascist acts. The three kidnapped and tortured two girls: Rosaria Lopez, 19, and Donatella Colasanti, 17.

The film is produced by Warner Bros., Picomedia and the Ministry of Culture of the European country. It was presented out of competition at Venice Film Festival and is in the catalog of Netflix from 14 September.