The Children are Watching Us

"The Children are Watching Us” is a black and white Italian neo realism film that was made in 1944. In the beginning of the film Mrs. Resta, the maid, takes Prico to the neighborhood park where he can ride his scooter. While Prico is riding his scooter he sees Nina, his mother, and her lover Roberto talking under a tree. The conversation stops when Prico interrupts. Later that same night Prico’s father has an important meeting, so Nina stays home with him. She puts him to bed, and then once he is sound asleep she runs away to be with her lover.

The next morning everyone discovers that Nina has disappeared. Since the father is the head of a business he cannot stay home with Prico who is only four years old. Throughout the film Prico is taken to his aunt’s house, or to his grandmother’s house where everyone portrays him as being a nuisance. As a result of being neglected Prico becomes extremely ill and almost dies. Nina receives word about her son, and she comes home to be with him. Eventually, Prico recovers and is ready to conquer the world. One day Roberto, Nina’s lover, comes unexpectedly to their house, and demands to talk to Nina privately. Prico is sent to the play room, but he over hears the conversation, and comes charging in to save Nina.

Next the entire family takes a vacation on the beach. After a while the father has to return to work, but Nina and Prico stay. During a magic show Nina notices Roberto out in crowd, and later they are together. Nina continues to neglect Prico, so he runs away and tries to get back to his father. Eventually Nina and Prico return home, but when Prico comes into the house alone the father realizes that Nina has run away again. The father has no way of caring for Prico, so he puts him in a boarding school. Upon arriving at the school the father says good-bye and leaves without turning back, which leaves Prico heartbroken yet again. After some time has passed Prico gets word that his father has died. Also, he does not want to talk Nina because he realizes that she caused his father to die of sorrow.

Overall, this film demonstrated a child being neglected by his parents, and how that affected his life. Prico only wanted his parents to show him affection, but he hardly received any throughout the film. Also, this film reflected on the idea that the choices people make have influence on other’s lives. Often as college students we do not realize that the choices we make now will impact our lives in the future.