Humanizing disability in Italian cinema: Depictions of Down syndrome in Dafne and Mio fratello rincorre i dinosauri

Two recent 2019 Italian films, Federico Bondi’s Dafne and Stefano Cipani’s Mio fratello rincorre i dinosauri, subvert the ways that people with disabilities have traditionally been characterized onscreen. Whereas much of Italian cinema has marginalized impaired individuals and utilized them as metaphors for some social concern, these films depict their characters with Down—Dafne and Gio, respectively—as deeply connected to their communities. They therefore thrive in areas where people with intellectual and developmental impairments have typically struggled, such as in the workplace, at school, or at home. Instead, it is the ostensibly able-bodied characters, Luigi and Jack, who develop various impairments that result in their increasing isolation, ostracization, and Othering. I contend, however, that Luigi and Jack’s temporary experience as disabled individuals and, consequently, their limited, yet firsthand knowledge of the ways that people with disabilities are treated, facilitates empathy for, and an eventual reconciliation with, Dafne and Gio. More than an effort to normalize disability through an attempt to dispel common misperceptions about the abilities of people with Down, Dafne and Mio fratello rincorre i dinosauri succeed in capturing the humanity of their disabled characters, effectively humanizing disability. Similar depictions of people with impairments, and with Down specifically, have heretofore been absent from Italian cinema and thus open the door to more positive and perhaps more authentic representations of disability.