Domenica

Offering panoramas of Naples, effective performances, traces of Pasolini-like realism and occasional flashes of poignancy, this tale of the friendship that develops between an angst-ridden cop and an orphan girl being brought up by the nuns is nevertheless too sentimental and emotionally self-conscious to satisfy. Giuliano is good as the girl, capturing her blend of saintliness, resourcefulness and idiosyncratic morality, as she assiduously collects money for the convent while pocketing a percentage for her own good works. It's the cop's job to prevail upon her to identify the man who raped her. Their link is the cop's old girlfriend, who runs a café, a regular stop-off point for the girl. In the process, the film takes an askance look at an outsider Italian family.