The critical gaze of Maria Vittoria from the Zoo Palast

(from Berlin Luigi Noera with the kind collaboration of Maria Vittoria Battaglia and Vittorio De Agrò of the editorial staff Ground floor– Photos are published courtesy of #BERLINALE)

#YoungHearts, presented in the #GenerationKplus section, it is a film of disarming tenderness

#Young Hearts (Young hearts) di Anthony Schatteman | con Lou Goossens, Marius De Saeger, Geert Van Rampelberg, Emile De Roo, Dirk Van Dyck – Belgium / Netherlands 2024 | WP | First work

Joyful looks, tender smiles, summer hit music, all illuminated by a warm and soft spring light.

Everything seems to be simple, of that simplicity that characterizes Sunday afternoons in the company of loved ones, in the tranquility of the family, of friendship, of the countryside that distances the chaos of the city.

Until at a certain point a family that comes from that chaos of the city moves into these terraced houses in the Dutch countryside.. And the bucolic, calm and serene heart of fourteen-year-old Elias begins to beat, to experience that chaos that suddenly erupts.

Alexander, the new neighbor, with a magnetic gaze and an imposing personality, it arouses emotions in him that he has never felt before, confuses him, and so all Elias's certainties disappear.

He loves Valerie, friend, first girlfriend, but he can never look at her the way he looks at Alexander, he can never feel that thrill he feels when he touches Alexander's hand.

They are coming closer, then they walk away, in a game of attraction and repulsion punctuated by Elias' confusion and fear, who speaks little but shows a lot with his gaze always attentive to every detail of those around him. He continually scrutinizes everyone, the parents, the brother, friends, in the hope of understanding what would be right to do and in fear of losing the affection of these people who throughout the film represent the coordinates within which the teenager moves.

Eventually it explodes, but luckily the grandfather intervenes, witness to the strength of feelings of times gone by. And thanks to his help Elias understands, and with him also us spectators, that a young heart must paw at, it has to beat hard, because it is only in this turmoil that the strength of love resides.

The final scene follows the initial one, marking the cyclical nature and stainlessness of affections: pop music, laughs, glances and warm light. But this time there is something different, there are two young hearts looking at each other, they kiss and love each other.

#Schatteman's YoungHearts is a disarmingly tender film, with promising young actors who demonstrate great intensity in every gesture, in every look and in every word. A coming-of-age story with fairy-tale contours, in a bucolic context and whose rhythm is marked by the soft music of a piano. A story that will touch the heart of the most cynical spectator, without scandals, without shouting and without drama but with the sole strength of young love.

Maria Vittoria Battaglia