This is another showcase of genuis of Gabriele Salvatores (Academy winner for "Mediterraneo"), telling the story of a boy named Michele. The unsettling story, based on the novel of the same title by Niccolo Ammaniti, is skillfully told against the background of the beautiful scenery of the southern part of Italy. Michele is a 10-year-old boy living in a small village in southern part of Italy. The time is 1978, and the season, summer. Amid the breathtakingly beautiful nature, however, the life of the people (only five families) is not easy. But the kids are the same as everywhere else, and the six children are playing around the old houses today, like any ordinary kids do.Then, Michele, when alone, finds a hole on the ground covered by planks. Unsuspicious, Michele peeps into the darkness, only to find something very unusual deep in the hole. And that looks like a foot of a human ....THE STORY IS BASICALLY A THRILLER, seen from the eye of the boy. If I go on telling the story, I would spoil the joy and thrill of watching the film, so I only add that what the boy finds changes the boy's way of looking at things around him eternally. He comes to realize that there is evil hidden among the peaceful life of him and his friends. And as the film's title "I'm Not Scared" (with a pretty childilke nuance) suggests, Michele slowly starts to find a way to understand and fight the world surrounding him in his own way.Don't get me wrong. The film's premise is that of a thriller, but the stress is given to the realistic portraits of the characters, especially Michele, Michele's mother and father. As the film introduces them, we soon realize that Salvatores avoids cliched characterizations of the family. And then we discover something quite unnerving beneath the family through the experience of Michele. It's like a fairy tale with a slight tinge of crime novel.The kids, all non-professionals, are just fantastic. They could be cute, they could be weak, and they could be cruel. In short, they are real. The most famous face you see might be Aitana Sanchez-Gijon (as Michele's mother), who was seen against Keanu Reeves in "Walk in the Cloud." She looks totally different from her role in the romantic tale, but still great and convincing.The film, blessed with the great photography and soundtrack, is another proof that the Italian directors from the newer generations are the power to be reckoned with. Some may call it the Italian "Stand by Me." Actually, "I'm Not Scared" is much more than that, without which, however, you will be utterly captivated. The incident depicted in this film is loosely based on the real-life events that happened around the time the film shows. A few knowledge about the cultural background (the economical gap between the "rich" north and south in Italy) might help understand the film.