The Properties of Metals

The Romagna Apennines, Italy, 1970s. Pietro is a boy who appears to have mysterious powers: he can bend metal simply by touching it. Professor Moretti, an italo-american scientist based in the nearby city of Bologna, starts studying him. Moretti is convinced that the boy’s abilities are genuine, but the boy’s father, a surly man loaded down with debt, puts himself in the middle of things. The solution could lie in a prize offered by an American foundation: 20,000 dollars to anyone who can prove a paranormal phenomenon. The experiments begin. But to what extent is Pietro in charge of his own powers? The Properties of Metals is a sombre fairytale, loosely inspired by a true story: the case of the socalled minigellers, children with supposed psychokinetic powers, who were studied by two Italian university professors in the late seventies. A fantasy film which is rooted in history and the landscape of central Italy.