He was gay and he didn’t like that. As Andrea Spezzacatena killed himself at the age of 15. It is his story told in “The boy with the pink pants”, a film directed by Margherita Ferri which was successful beyond all expectations and based on the book written by her mother Teresa Manes.
Yes, because it is delicate and uncomfortable, this film in this Italy which still has many unresolved issues with homophobia and transphobia (and very recent news events demonstrate this).
Yet it struck the right chord and was appreciated by many people, so much so that it has grossed 9 million euros, becoming the most watched film of 2024 (also on the podium Parthenope, by Paolo Sorrentino, and also A world apart).
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The plot of “The Boy with the Pink Pants” and the story of Andrea Spezzacatena
Andrea Spezzacatena was 15 years old when he killed himself on November 20, 2012. Cyberbullying was the cause of his decision, or rather, the hand and words of those companions who were so insensitive and wicked that they even went so far as to create a page on social media against of him in which he was labeled as “the boy with the pink trousers” (because one day Andrea went to school with a pair of pink trousers, in fact, once red but discolored due to incorrect washing).
The narrative voice in Ferri’s film is that of Andrea, who tells of his life from an early age up to adolescence, the change of school, his friendship with Sara and then with Christian, who later became the executioner.
During one summer, Andrea discovers that his classmates have opened a Facebook group just to mock and insult him for his alleged homosexuality. When school resumes, Andrea paints his nails and starts a fight with Christian, but then he is forced to resign himself to the idea of being the subject of his classmates’ cruelty for all the school years he has left.
He can’t take it, that malice gets the better of him and so Andrea decides to take his own life a few days after turning fifteen, without even leaving a note.
Following Andrea’s death, his mother, Teresa, devastated by grief, writes a magical and powerful book entitled Andrea: Beyond the pink trouserswhich he dedicates to his two children. Hence the blockbuster film which, we hope, leads you to think and count to 10 before every single word. Always.
