4.5/5

Review by John P. Harvey.

Lili (Leïla Bekhti), a Parisienne showgirl, suddenly finds herself in possession of her own daughter, five-year-old Tina (Rafaëlle Sonneville-Caby), who represents a threat to her lifestyle.  Hearing of an institute for children run by Maria Montessori (Jasmine Trinca), Lili takes Tina to Rome and begs Montessori to take Tina in as a boarder. 

Montessori, who runs the relatively new institute with Giuseppe Montesano (Raffaele Esposito), informs Lili that there are currently no available beds, but that Lili may bring Tina to lessons at the institute each day.

Thus begins our gradual immersion in the lives of these two women and the consequences to each of their gradually developing friendship, including their eventual mutual trust.  The complex relationships and moral dilemmas each faces come through with a degree of realism that arises only through exacting authenticity of body language, dialogue, costumery, and sets.

As these strong characters negotiate their respective difficulties, we are treated to the effects of Maria Montessori’s methods and their remarkableness in an age that expected children with special needs to amount to nothing, to achieve nothing, and to become social burdens rather than social participants and contributors.

The film offers insights into the difficulty in the 1890s of bringing about change in relation to the rights of disabled children to educational opportunities and of overcoming the limits that society’s entrenched injustices imposed even on somebody as intelligent, erudite, and accomplished as Maria Montessori.

With standout performances by Trinca and Bekhti and amazing participation by the cast of children, Maria Montessori is an inspiration, engaging us fully in Montessori’s investment in loving and paying attention to the children she is determined to help.  The film shows that the benefits of modern education, even as it continues to catch up with her methods and their underlying philosophy of freeing children to explore what interests them, owe much to her insights.

Screening at Palace cinemas.