''We Believed'' ( it, Noi credevamo) is a 2010 Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Mario Martone Mario Martone (born 20 November 1959) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has directed more than 30 films since 1985. His film ''L'amore molesto'' was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. His 2010 film '' Noi credevamo'' co ...

, based on a screenplay by Martone and Giancarlo De Cataldo inspired by events around the 19th-century

Young Italy Young Italy ( it, La Giovine Italia) was an Italian political movement founded in 1831 by Giuseppe Mazzini. After a few months of leaving Italy, in June 1831, Mazzini wrote a letter to King Charles Albert of Sardinia, in which he asked him to uni ...

political movement and based on the novel of the late art historian

Anna Banti Anna Banti (born Lucia Lopresti; 27 June 1895 – 2 September 1985) was an Italian writer, art historian, critic, and translator. Life and works Banti was born in Florence. In her youth she spent time in Rome, attending the University of R ...

. Nominated for the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...

at the 67th Venice International Film Festival, the film was released in Italy on 12 November 2010.

Plot

The film is divided into four chapters, titled "Le scelte" ("Choices"), "Domenico," "Angelo," and "L'alba della Nazione" ("Dawn of the Nation"). The story follows three boys growing up in the Cilento Valley in southern Italy in the early 19th century in what was then the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Salvatore, who is all about patriotic spirit, Domenico, who believes in friendship, and Angelo, a restless and violent man. In 1828 all three join

, a political movement seeking unification if Italy founded by

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...

. Following this decision, their lives take different paths, tracing some episodes of the historical ''

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

'' period which sought to consolidate various territories on the Italian Peninsula into a single unified state.

Cast

Luigi Lo Cascio Luigi Lo Cascio (born 20 October 1967) is an Italian actor. He won the David di Donatello as best actor for his starring role in ''I cento passi''. In 2012, he debuted as film director and writer with '' La città ideale''. Filmography *2000: ' ...

as Domenico *

Valerio Binasco Valerio Binasco (born 20 June 1964) is an Italian actor, stage director, and playwright. Life and career Born in Paderna, Binasco graduated at the drama school of the Stabile di Genova, where he made his professional debut in 1987. He won two ...

as Angelo * Francesca Inaudi as Young Cristina of Belgiojoso *

Guido Caprino Guido Caprino (born 3 January 1974) is an Italian stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Taormina, Caprino grew up in Nizza di Sicilia and graduated as a dental technician in Messina. He then moved to Milan, where he worked ...

Felice Orsini Felice Orsini (; ; 10 December 1819 – 13 March 1858) was an Italian revolutionary and leader of the '' Carbonari'' who tried to assassinate Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. Early life Felice Orsini was born at Meldola in Romagna, the ...

Renato Carpentieri Renato Carpentieri (born 2 April 1943) is an Italian actor, stage director and playwright. Life and career Born in Savignano Irpino, Avellino, Carpentieri studied architecture in Naples, where from 1965 to 1974 he was engaged in the organizatio ...

as Carlo Poerio *

Ivan Franěk Ivan Franěk (born 17 June 1964), sometimes credited as Ivan Franeck, is a Czech film and television actor. Early life and education He was born in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia. Franěk moved to France in 1989. Career His first major role was appe ...

as Simon Bernard *

Andrea Bosca Andrea Bosca (born 14 July 1980) is an Italian actor. He appeared in more than thirty films since 2004. Life and career Andrea Bosca graduated in 2003 from the Teatro Stabile School of Turin, founded by director Luca Ronconi. In 2004 he beca ...

as Young Angelo *

Edoardo Natoli Edoardo is the Italian form of the English male given name Edward. Notable people named Edoardo include: * Edoardo Agnelli (industrialist) (1892–1935), Italian industrialist * Edoardo Alfieri (1913–1998), Italian sculptor * Edoardo Amaldi (1 ...

as Young Domenico *

Luigi Pisani Luigi Pisani (1522 – 3 June 1570) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. Biography Luigi (Alvise) Pisani was born in Venice in 1522, the son of Giovanni Pisani, future Ambassador of the Republic of Venice to the Kingdom of Franc ...

as Salvatore *

Stefano Cassetti Stefano is the Italian form of the masculine given name Στέφανος (Stefanos, Stephen). The name is of Greek origin, Στέφανος, meaning a person who made a significant achievement and has been crowned. In Orthodox Christianity the ac ...

as Rudio *

Michele Riondino Michele Riondino (born 14 March 1979) is an Italian actor. Born in Taranto, Riondino enrolled at the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2000. In 2006, he acted in ''The Black Arrow'', a TV series broadcast by Canale ...

as Saverio *

Franco Ravera Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ...

as Gomez * Andrea Renzi as

Sigismondo Castromediano ''Sigismondo'' is an operatic 'dramma' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa. The opera was not a success and Rossini later re-used some of its music in ''Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra'', ''The Barb ...

Edoardo Winspeare Edoardo Carlo Winspeare Guicciardi (born 14 September 1965) is an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. He has directed seven films since 1996. Selected filmography References External links * 1965 births Living people It ...

as Nisco * Anna Bonaiuto as Cristina of Belgiojoso *

Toni Servillo Marco Antonio Servillo (), known as Toni Servillo, is an Italian actor and theatrical director. He has won the European Film Award for Best Actor twice, in 2008 for both '' Gomorrah'' and ''Il Divo'' and in 2013 for ''The Great Beauty'', as wel ...

Luca Zingaretti Luca Zingaretti (; born 11 November 1961) is an Italian actor and film director, known for playing Salvo Montalbano in the '' Inspector Montalbano'' mystery series based on the character and novels created by Andrea Camilleri. Zingaretti is a na ...

as Francesco Crispi * Romuald Andrzej Klos as Stanislaw Worcell * Luca Barbareschi as Antonio Gallenga *

Roberto Accornero Roberto Accornero (born 9 March 1957) is an Italian television, film and voice actor. In the several roles he played, there was that of father Angelo Dell'Acqua in the miniseries John XXIII: The Pope of Peace, and that of captain Aloisi in th ...

as Luigi Melegari

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noi credevamo 2010 films 2010 drama films Italian drama films 2010s Italian-language films Films directed by Mario Martone