AllMovie

Cristiano Bortone's inspirational Italian-language drama Red Like the Sky recounts the incredible true story of the early life of blind sound editor Mirco Mencacci. The victim of a freak childhood accident in 1970 that robbed him permanently of his sight, Mencacci is shipped off to a Genoan boarding school for Catholic boys, per the stipulations of the Italian government. Not one to be daunted or repressed, Mirco forges a heartwarming friendship with the daughter of the school gatekeeper; the two abscond together, via her bicycle, on a series of secret trips to the closest cinema. Meanwhile, at the school, Mirco also begins recording his own sound dramas with the school's tape recorder and the use of audio books in the institution's library. In time, the innovative young man invites other students to participate, who eagerly accept, and Mirco uses the activity to help each fellow student identify his own innate gifts and pursue his dreams. But when he leads a cadre of boys on a covert expedition to the cinema, the school administrators take swift and decisive action.