The Missing Star

Vincenzo, head of maintenance at a steel plant in Italy that has closed, knows there is a fault in the blast furnace the plant sold to China. Nobody listens to him. He puts the part in his bag and goes to China. He has no language and knows no one there. A young interpreter who once studied in Italy comes to his aid. Gianni Amelio's Italian film tells the relocation of industry through the journey of two people. Sergio Castellitto takes the lead, with Tai Ling as the interpreter. The film does not make China exotic and does not make the Italian a rescuer either; the man misunderstands and behaves badly much of the time. Most of it was shot in real factories and on real building sites.