Italo

ITA | 2015 | feature film | 104′

Based on a true story, Italo vividly depicts the life-altering friendship between an extraordinary dog and a lonely child. One day, a good natured stray dog by the name of Italo, wanders into the small Sicilian town of Scicli. But Italo’s arrival causes a terrible uproar in the village, everyone there is fiercely opposed to having stray dogs around. Everyone… except Meno.

Meno, a precociously wise 10 year-old, is as lonely and introverted as can be. Since his mother passed away he has shut everyone out, including his workaholic father. It will take all the unconditional love a special dog like Italo can give to force Meno out of his shell. And Meno will get involved in a series of adventures that will teach him the difference between acting like a grown up and actually becoming one.

Who was Italo

If ltalo had not existed, a film director would have had to invent him. As he really did exist, it was inevitable that he should star in a film. Italo was a stray, special dog. lt was a story waiting to be told. The film version of Italo’s story is not only about this extraordinary “character” but involves a multiplicity of intrigues in the lives of the inhabitants of a small town community all centred on ltalo. Our aim was to create a comedy which would also be moving and full of humanity. Besides ltalo, the other protagonists are three children and three adults portrayed against a Sicilian background full of colour and tradition.

In 2009, in the wake of an unfortunate incident involving a pack of stray dogs and a small child, the town of Scicli decided to round up all the strays and remove them from the streets. It was just at this time that this mongrel with a honey-coloured coat arrived in Scicli. Some people think he was left alone when his elderly owner died, others say he was abandoned by a vagabond. However, Italo never revealed his true story to anyone. Strangely, the psychotic fear of stray dogs began to lessen upon his arrival and obviously he could never have frightened anyone. He chose Via Mormina Penna in Scicli, Sicily, a UNESCO heritage site since 2002, as his new abode, because he was sure of finding food there opposite a pizzeria. He began to attend Mass in the Church of San Giovanni in the main square. The pastor got angry: can a dog enter the church? And put up a sign: “Dogs are forbidden.” Italo, however, pretended that he couldn’t read and continued attending Mass. After a while, he learned the itineraries of the guided tours. He began to precede the tourists, to route them. He gained his enduring place in the collective imagination on the occasion of the funeral of a young man killed in a road accident. The night before the funeral he kept a vigil at the church door and on the following day, to everyone’s amazement, he headed the funeral cortège in front of the coffin.

Who was Italo? What was Italo? The people’s answer is that he was the reincarnation of someone who loved Scicli. He policed the UNESCO historic town centre, running after cars driving through the restricted transit zone and barking at them. On Sundays he attended Mass. He participated in funerals, weddings and religious festivities. He would greet the children as they came out of school and in an unforgettable unscheduled appearance during the “Festa della Madonna delle Milizie” (a historical re-enactment of the battle between the Normans led by Count Ruggero and the Saracens which took place in 1091) he made his entrance just as the Emir Belcane was scornfully addressing Count Ruggero as “Christian dog”. And he was centre stage. The following year the Mayor had to issue an order that Italo be kept on a leash during the festivities, in case he decided to give an encore. Finally, a noblewoman donated 2000 euro to have the statuette made for the crib where Italo took his place last Christmas. Next to the Ox, the Ass and Baby Jesus. Fantasies? All documented, photographed, filmed.

Italo departed this life on 31st January 2011, leaving a great void in the town.