Forever Mery

Synopsis

Mery per sempre is set in Rosaspina, a fictionary juvenile detention centre (the actual one is called Malaspina) in Palermo, Sicily, during the 1980s. The protagonist, Marco Terzi (Michele Placido), is a teacher who has transferred to Palermo from Milan. He obtains a temporary position as teacher inside the institution, waiting to start teaching in a high school, and has great difficulty in establishing a rapport with the young, hostile students; in particular, Natale Sperandeo (Francesco Benigno), the leader of the group, who is inside for murder, and Pietro Giancona (Claudio Amendola). Terzi's situation is further complicated when Mario Libassi (Alessandro Di Sanzo), a transvestite prostitute, nicknamed Mery, falls in love with him and when Claudio severely hits Carmelo who wanted rape him. With the passing of time, however, Terzi slowly gains the respect and admiration of his students, even from the most hardened of the young men, but he comes in contrast with the director and the warders. After the death of Pietro, killed during a robbery after a jailbreak, he decides to refuse the well paid position in the high school to stay with the boys.

Forever Mery was followed in 1990 with the sequel Ragazzi fuori, featuring most of the same cast and characters, with the exception of Placido and Amendola. The film Mery per sempre was the inspiration behind a song with the same name by the popular Israeli singer Ivri Lider.