Nine Italian A Level students were given a memorable insight into the dark realities of Mafia-run Sicily in the 1970s this week when they visited the Ciné Lumiere in South Kensington to watch I Cento Passi (The 100 Steps) and a moving, after-show Q&A session
The film tells the inspiring but ultimately tragic story of Peppino Impastato, a Sicilian activist who courageously opposed the Mafia and whose murder helped inspire the backlash against ‘La cosa nostra’ and the government crackdown that has curbed its power in Sicily in the years since.
To add to the poignancy of the film, Peppino’s niece, Luisa Impastato, was present for an after-show on-stage interview when she talked of the impact that the tragedy had on her family’s life and the battle for justice that followed her uncle's death. ‘What was really striking about the story was not just the scale of the crimes the Mafia committed,’ says Upper Sixth Former Biagio. ‘It was the culture of silence and fear - it’s known as ‘omerta’ - that was imposed on the whole community.’
The trip illustrates Harrodian teacher, Monia Magoga's determination to give students an accurate impression of her native land, whether that involves preparing and cooking delicious pizza in the school kitchen or exploring Italy's criminal underworld
The trip provided a real-life example of the world portrayed in the students’s A Level set text, Io no Ho Paura (‘I don’t feel afraid’) a novel about the 1970s southern Italian underworld. It also illustrates Harrodian teacher, Veneto-born Monia Magoga’s determination to give students an accurate impression of her native land, whether that involves preparing and cooking delicious pizza in the school kitchen or exploring the country’s criminal underworld.
It's clearly an approach Harrodian’s A Level students appreciate: According to Upper Sixth student Sophia what makes learning Italian at Harrodian special is that, as well as learning the language, 'you get an authentic sense of what Italian culture really feels like’.