In his directorial debut, Italian TV star Giuseppe (“Beppe”) Fiorello creates a claustrophobic context for his fine film Fireworks (Stranizza d’amuri, which translates to “Miracle of Love”), an Italian picture that will be released on January 18, 2024, on DVD and VOD. With stunning cinematography by Ramiro Civita that evokes Sicily’s sunbaked desolation from the outside world, the story concerns 17-year-old Gianni, (the very handsome Samuele Segreto), a shy, withdrawn teen consistently bullied for being gay. He had been in a reformatory for, we assume, having gay sex, and now lives with his mom (Simona Malato) and stepdad, who owns a garage at which Gianni is a mechanic.
Gabriele Pizzurro and Samuele Segreto
Delivering a motorbike, he literally runs into Nino (Gabriele Pizzurro), a boy with big fluffy hair and a sweet smile. Gianni finds refuge in Nino’s family and eventually goes to work for Nino’s uncle in a quarry. Nino works with his father, who makes money from staging fireworks displays for community events. As the two teens become close and fall in love, we palpably experience both their unadulterated adolescence and the machismo and morality that permeates Italy.
Simona Malato
This gay coming-of-age romance is based on real events in the 1980s, when a young gay couple was murdered — an unpunished hate crime that gave birth to Arcigay, Italy’s first and largest queer rights group, but that happens after the movies final scenes. I have to say it’s a lot to take in — the horror of brutal treatment to an innocent boy causes upset while the joy of sweet romance uplifts. It seems Fiorello wants it all — revulsion, inspiration, joy, sorrow. As such, the film, while recommended, lacks the tension that more judicious editing would have taken care of. Still, Fireworks leaves an impact, and should remind the modern younger queer movement that life was far more dangerous for coming out in the early eighties than it is now.
Alessio Simonetti and Giuseppe Lo Piccolo
Fireworks
released March 23, 2023 in Italy
on VOD and DVD January 18, 2024
Italy | in Italian | 2023 | RT: 134 minutes
Antonio De Matteo and Gabriele Pizzurro
