The Castle is an affecting documentary about the power of friendship in a troubled community. Full of resilience and warmth, this fantastic film shows us just how inspiring children can be.

A group of children explore the abandoned kindergarten in their old and struggling neighbourhood in Palermo. Believed to be haunted by adults (so they can ensure the children stay away), this group decide to make it their secret hideaway and transform one of the rooms.

Filmmakers Danny Biancardi, Stefano La Rosa, and Virginia Nardelli have delivered a film that encapsulates the bond children form while showing us how aware they are of the events around them and how profound and important a space just for children is —a little oasis away from the pain and violence.

One technique that works marvellously in The Castle is how the camera is almost always at the children’s level; it is never high up, as if a parent or adult is watching over them. We are at their level, so we see them more as people than “just” children. It’s subtlety allows for specific moments to shine, with one such moment being when the trio of Mary, Rosy and Giada are talking about violence in their neighbourhood and how their families have been affected with prison or house arrests, etc. An 11-year-old saying how she doesn’t want a husband because she doesn’t want to feel the pain of her partner not being home or that they are out cheating is profoundly affecting.

It’s an entirely grown-up conversation, but it comes from children who then move on to what they want for their futures and their families. We often think that moments in a child’s life do not overly affect them, that they are young and can move on. But here in The Castle, we see that it does; the actions in their community are affecting them, and they merely want a place of calm that they can call their own, without anything from the outside upsetting it.

With Angelo, the only boy in the group, we have a boy who does not want to follow the same path as the others. They are too violent, wanting to show how tough they are to one another. He doesn’t have the want or time for that. He would rather be on his own or just spend his time talking with his friends in this group. At first, you could feel he was being sensitive. Yet, when we see the boys “invade” their sanctuary, you entirely understand his point. He shouldn’t have to follow the same path as them, and maybe he has the correct foresight to follow the path that is right for him.

The latter third of The Castle brings a sad inevitability to it all. We knew the sanctuary would never stay that way, that at some point, the city/community would get their act together and sort it out. But even so, we feel a pang of sadness. So, even when the bulldozers are clearing all the rubbish, one child is cleaning their room, washing the cabinets, and so on. A worker tries to tell her how positive it is for the community; however, for this group, they will be destroying their “little house”.

While wholly positive and a glimpse of hope, it probably just means that little pockets of friend groups will look elsewhere, out of fear that what replaces their spot will be ruined by others. Hope remains, though, for the community and for our group. The end of their little house is not the end of their hopes and their friendship.

The Castle is a documentary that we, as adults, can learn a great deal from, and it encourages us to be far more open to the thoughts of children. Sometimes, they have important things to say. As it’s said at the end of the credits, this is a film about the secret places that endure even when you grow up, but also about those who used them to stay safe, when they could find nowhere else—a special documentary.

★★★★

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