original title:
Fiori di Baggio
directed by:
cast:
Matilda Porta, Alioune Badiane, Sara Righi, Vincenzo Martire, Federico Rizzo, Giuseppe Romanelli, Gianni Pellegrino, Maurizio Ferrini, Francesco Martire, Sangiu H. M., Nicholas Ben Badr, Damiana Dicorato, Cosimo Schirosi, Mohamed Ibrahim Farag, Cristian D' Angella, Graziano Pistone, Moreno Maltese, Maurizio Ferrini, Stefano Bonesini
screenplay:
cinematography:
editing:
music:
production:
Marvin production, Bomber production, Associazione culturale Ciao Amore, with the support of Municipio 7 del Comune di Milano
country:
Italy
year:
2023
film run:
70'
format:
colour
release date:
13/03/2023
Andrea is a strong girl. Those who have tried to fall in love with her have found themselves with broken bones and not just metaphorically. She lives with her grandmother in Baggio, in the suburbs of Milano, a place where once crime thrived. Her children, who were once the "zanzas", go to university and spend time on smartphones. Guys with clear ideas, determined to conquer their slice of the world. Andrea's phone is an old Motorola, with a display where she barely can reads the caller name. Andrea doesn't want to conquer anything. She just wants to be left alone. She's good at her job, she's the fastest, the best. She delivers flowers and plants: not a mind-boggling job, but full of pitfalls. Ali is a simple guy - some could call him dumb.
Andrea's boss send him to work with her and one day they witnesses a strong argument: slaps and punches rains between a father and a son. Still shaken, Andrea learns from Ali that the man is beating the boy because he expects him to kill her sister, and thus cleanse the honor of the family. The girl refused the engagement of a fellow countryman, the son of a Middle Eastern boss in the neighborhood, to whom she had been promised for some time. Andrea cannot pretend nothing has happened. She decided to take that boy away, even at the cost of kidnapping him. With an excuse she makes him get out, stuns him with a blow to the head, locks him in the back of the van and they leave quickly. She takes the boy to Davis, a former junkie who lives in her building, who has a filthy basement: a place where no one would ever looks for.
Once they have recovered they explain the situation to the boy. The young man is perplexed, but he trusts: they must immediately contact their sister. To save the two brothers, Andrea come back to the old boss of the neighborhood, an old friend of her deceased parents. The man cares a lot for the girl, so Andrea and the two boys take refuge in a farmhouse in Tuscany. The two boys' father spreads the word in the neighborhood; he's willing to give a hefty reward to those who give information about the children. Davis, as a former junkie in need of money, decides to snitch. The Middle Eastern man goes on a rampage and kidnaps Andrea's grandmother. Andrea's now must go back and once again involves the old Italian boss.
The fight will become a clan's dispute but the boss warns her: once the story will be resolved, the only way to save herself is to disappear. The boss manages to find out where Andrea's grandmother is locked up and he organizes the woman's release. Everyone is involved: Andrea, Ali, the old boss, the "blacksmith", the "scooter gang" of pushers. The old boss enters the room and frees the old woman. The two have a brief dialogue: he's the father of Andrea's mother, a secret that has been hidden for years. He's shot by a hit man. The grandmother takes the gun and shoots at the attacker, while the scooter gang bring her to the Ali's van. They find Andrea and manage to save themselves. Mindful of the old boss's words, the three run away from Milan and join the two Middle Eastern brothers in the farmhouse in Tuscany, where they'll live in peace producing marijuana.