Asuddelsole (2001)

Overview

Pasquale Marrazzo directs this understated, gritty look at a trio of young people struggling to make their own lives in the face of terrible odds. Giovanni is a young man from a poor family, eking out a living as a gas station attendant. His twin brother Moreno has Down's syndrome and lives in an institution. Giovanni's girlfriend Betty lives with her dissolute mother and her mom's thuggish, lecherous boyfriend. When he learns that the institution put his brother up for adoption, Giovanni is indignant, vowing to bring him under his family's care. More than willing to escape her mother and the casual pawings of her lover, Betty moves with Giovanni. Giovanni's single-minded struggle to claim legal guardianship over Moreno suddenly gives the two a direction in life and soon a family of sorts forms.