Mery per sempre is an Italian language dramatic film directed by Marco Risi and released in 1989. It stars Michele Placido

Michele Placido

Michele Placido is an internationally known Italian actor and director. He is best known for the role of Corrado Cattani in the TV series La Piovra.-Life and career:...

, Claudio Amendola

Claudio Amendola

Claudio Amendola is an Italian actor and a director.He is a son of the actor and voice dubber Ferruccio Amendola and dubber Rita Savagnone. His son is voice dubber Alessia Amendola and his girlfriend is actress Francesca Neri...

, Alessandro Di Sanzo

Alessandro Di Sanzo

Alessandro Di Sanzo is an Italian actor best known for his portrayal of the teenaged transvestite prostitute Mario Libassi, nicknamed Mery in Marco Risi's dramatic film, Mery per sempre , which was released in 1989 and where he made his acting debut...

, Francesco Benigno

Francesco Benigno

Francesco Benigno , is an Italian actor of television, cinema and theatre. He is also a singer, and has directed a short film for which he won the Grifoni D'argento Award .- Career :...

, Salvatore Termini

Salvatore Termini

Salvatore Termini is an Italian actor best known for his role as Giovanni Trapani, nicknamed King Kong in two Italian language dramatic films directed by Marco Risi, "Mery per sempre", in which Termini made his acting debut, and its sequel, "Ragazzi fuori". They were both set in Palermo where...

 and Tony Sperandeo

Tony Sperandeo

Tony Sperandeo is an Italian actor of cinema and television. Sperandeo is notable for frequently playing the roles of characters from his native region, Sicily...

.

Synopsis

Mery per sempre is set in Malaspina, a juvenile detention centre in Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

, Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, during the 1980s. The protagonist, Marco Terzi (Michele Placido), is a teacher who has transferred to Palermo from Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

. He obtains a position as teacher inside the institution, 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 Giancone (Claudio Amendola). Terzi's situation is further complicated when Mario Libassi (Alessandro Di Sanzo), a transvestite prostitute, nicknamed Mery, falls in love with 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.

Mery per sempre was followed in 1990 with the sequel Ragazzi fuori

Ragazzi fuori

Ragazzi fuori is an Italian language dramatic film directed by Marco Risi in the neo-neorealistic style and written by Aurelio Grimaldi. Released in 1990, it is the sequel to the 1989 film Mery per sempre...

, featuring most of the same cast and characters, with the exception of Placido and Amendola.