MONDO

Francois Truffaut proposed that children existed in a sort of 'state of grace,' but does MONDO indeed depict a child, or something mroe? In the seaside town of Nice, Mondo appears, a boy with no family, home, or schooling, and volunteering zero details regarding his origin. He only has his name – and the ability to make quick friends among the city's outcasts and neglected. Mondo learns about the alphabet (” 'A' is a fly with its wings folded back”) and faraway places from a landlocked sailor. He finds gentleness in a homeless man. He's taught tricks by a street magician. He finds shelter with a Vietnamese immigrant. Exquisite photography captures both the delicate beauty of Mondo's perspective, and the prefab mass-consumer sterility of the modern society encroaching upon him. The reverie-like, elemental tale is accompanied by a terrific soundtrack – world beat, naturally. In French with English subtitles.- Charles Cassady