Review of Maria Goretti

This is another good film produced by RAI, and I really enjoyed it because it was more of a regular movie and not as long as their mini-series which last like 210 minutes. Young Martina Pinto really shines as the young saint, Maria Goretti. The supporting cast is just as excellent too. Flavio Insinna excellently portrayed Don Basilio, a priest who takes the Goretti family under his wing. (Martina would later guest star on Flavio's TV series, Ho Sposato Uno Sbirro, 4 years later.) Fabrizio Bucci (who also would work with Flavio in Don Bosco a year later) excellently portrays Alessandro Sorenelli, a young man, who falls in love with Maria, but soon their relationship would take a tragic turn. Luisa Ranieri is fantastic in portraying Mamma Asunta, who would face hardship and tragedy twice, with the death of her husband, and Maria's. And Claudia Koll, who has had a personal religious conversion herself, plays the Countess Mazzeloni. (She would also work with Flavio 2 years later in St. Peter as his wife, Anna.) The whole story is superb. It's based on the life of a young girl, Maria Goretti, who grew up in early 1900s Italy helping her poor family farm crops. She befriends Don Basilio, who decides to help her and her family. Working alongside the Goretti family in the field is Alessandro, a teenage boy, who was several years older than Maria. He wants to have a relationship with her, but she feels that she should wait until she's older. Feeling rejected, Alessandro turns to violence and tries to hurt Maria, but she was able to escape him once. However, the second time, she's unable to escape, and Alessandro stabs her in anger. The whole time she's dying, she keeps on praying to the Virgin Mary. This is a VERY moving film.