Marina (2013 film)

Marina is a biographical film released in 2013 and directed by Stijn Coninx. The film is based upon the life of the Italian singer Rocco Granata who moved to Belgium when he was a young boy. It features Matteo Simoni as Rocco Granata and Evelien Bosmans as Helena. Most part of the film is in Italian as Roccos parents did not speak the Dutch language. Other parts are in Dutch and some dialogues in French and English.

Salvatore Granata is a rather poor man who lives with his wife, son and daughter in Calabria in Italy. One day Salvatore decides to move to Belgium to work in the coal mine of Waterschei as a gastarbeider. His family will stay in Italy as Salvatore will only be in Belgium for three years. He hopes to earn much money in a rather small timeframe so he can buy a forge for his son Rocco who is now still ayear old boy. After a year, Salvatore decides his family should be with him, so they also move to Belgium. They soon discover the life of a gastarbeider is difficult they have to live in some kind of barracks, they are neglected by the Belgian people and they do not earn much. They are astonished when they hear Salvatore signed a contract of five years and male children of gastarbeiders are ought to work in the mines as soon they leave high school. Rocco meets Helena, the daughter of the local grocer shop. However, the man is a racist and forbids his daughter to play with Italian boys.Ten years pass and Salvatore still works in the mines. They now live in a house they rent from the mine. Rocco follows courses to play the accordion. One day, he falls with his bicycle and his accordion is broken. His music teacher advises to buy a new accordion, but Roccos father refuses as he does not want to invest in the musical instrument. It turns out Rocco is a rather good mechanic and he gets an apprenticeship in the local automobile repair shop. Roccos mother Ida earns some money by washing and ironing the clothes of other gastarbeiders. Salvatore, who is a selfish, jealous patriarch is unaware about Idas job. Rocco uses his saving money and a part of Idas money to buy a new accordion. He can spend ten thousand Belgian francs, but the store keeper asks000 francs for the accordion he wants to buy. However, after Rocco played some songs, the storekeeper is impressed and agrees Rocco can buy the device on credit. ........

Source: Wikipedia