I’ve only been there twice in my life, when my team won national championships. The first was the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers—a team that was never meant even to come close. The other was the 2002 Anaheim Angels, squeaking in a championship as the AL’s wild card. I remember at one of the Angels’ playoff games, this sense that I was in tune with a stadium of 45,000 other fans and a kid in a monkey suit. Trentatré – A Dream in the Heart: Naples Rises Again, directed by Raffaele Schiattarella and Raffaele Murolo, chronicles the emotional and cultural resurgence of Naples through the lens of a historic football season. After 33 long years, Napoli’s football club, Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, has a legitimate shot at a championship in 2023. As fans gather in bars and local clubhouses, the camera captures the pulse of the city nervous anticipation, humble superstition, and eventual celebration as Napoli fights for its long-awaited championship.
The film goes beyond the pitch to explore daily life in Naples, offering intimate glimpses into local debates about the controversial Citizens’ Income program and its effect on work ethic and public morale. Conversations at cafés and among community leaders reveal the tensions between reliance on state support and the desire for self-made success. The story then turns to the younger generation, spotlighting youth football academies where dreams of becoming the next Maradona are kindled.
As the 2023 season progresses, Naples transforms into a living shrine to its beloved team. The city’s emotional climate becomes directly tied to the club’s performance. Through street festivals, heartfelt interviews, and personal reflections, Trentatré celebrates how a sport can breathe life into a city, reconnect generations, and serve as a rallying cry for unity, hope, and identity. The pride is intense—so much so that everyone wants to make star player Diego Armando Maradona their king.
“…Napoli’s football club… has a legitimate shot at a championship in 2023.”
As I mentioned earlier, living through two national championships somehow formed a bond with me and my very diverse community. Trentatré – A Dream in the Heart: Naples Rises Again captures this sense of unity beautifully. It doesn’t matter your gender, race, or class; everyone in the city united in their passion and support for the club. Sure, every year, hundreds of cities worldwide experience this unifying event. Still, by focusing on a relatively small city like Napoli (population 920,000), the filmmakers capture the city’s pride for their team. A quaint, small-town charm is absent in sprawling sports cities like Los Angeles.
What directors Raffaele Schiattarella and Raffaele Murolo, along with writer Giacomo Morlando, do so brilliantly is walk the streets of Napoli each month to capture the city’s emotional pulse. They didn’t know when starting the project whether Napoli could—or would—win a championship, but they were able to correlate the city’s growing optimism with the team’s progress.
The documentary’s subjects are diverse, from the nonnas to young men starting life fresh. In the early months, everyone experiences this cautious optimism. As the months progress, optimism turns into hope, yet no one wants to jinx it. Then comes the agony of crucial “must-win” matches; lose and Napoli is out. The filmmakers do an admirable job organizing their footage and candid street interviews to produce a film that flows and inspires pride in one’s community.
Ultimately, Trentatré – A Dream in the Heart: Naples Rises Again is a story of unity through sport, a celebration of how one team’s success can ripple through an entire city’s identity. We witness the people of Naples come together in hope, anxiety, and joy for their club. In both places, we’re reminded that championship seasons don’t just belong to the players, they belong to all of us who live in the city they call home.
"…optimism turns into hope...no one wants to jinx it."
