The Young Observant

Luca is fourteen, and his life in the mountains comes to an end when he enrols in a hotel and catering school. The school, known for its strict rules, teaches religion alongside service and kitchen manners. Every day the students are made to face their own clumsiness and their weak points. The documentary follows Luca learning the art of service step by step. The question the account asks is this: how much of his own freedom and of his adolescence must a young man give up in order to serve customers. The film neither praises the school nor condemns it; it shows how the rules work on the boy. The difference between life on the mountain and the order of the school makes up the ground. Davide Maldi’s eighty five minute Italian documentary was completed in 2020.