It’s January, and determined young kids from Naples’ impoverished Spanish Quarter are running rampant through the city gathering items for a legendary event. There is a conspiracy afoot, and we are invited to the inner circle, mostly in low light and always with a thick layer of street sounds. The absurd single-mindedness of these Neapolitan rascals is matched by director Cyop & Kaf’s manic ability to communicate both a vivid sense of place and the illogic of the young and restless. “They’re not young kids, they’re beasts!” one neighbor observes. In this rousing, multivalent film, a tense, urgent atmosphere underscores the depiction of mob mentality (very close to the Italian mob’s historic home base). A paean to people and place, this allegorical film revels in the camaraderie and antagonistic affection of youth. (CB)