12/48
Filmed with painterly grace in natural light from a frozen winter to a salutary spring, the lush and breathtaking beauty of the Alps provides the physical and emotional backdrop for “Vermiglio,” Maura Delpero’s visionary film that won the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. Set in the small mountain village of Vermiglio, this unique portrait of an extended family follows a series of dramatic events following the arrival of a quiet Sicilian soldier (Giuseppe De Domenico) who hides out in the town after retiring from the army. There, the soldier develops an affair with the family’s eldest daughter, Lucia (Martina Scrinzi). “Vermiglio” depicts the life of a provincial family in a remote village, during which the customs of a fading era are suspended. By conjuring up stories from her family’s past, Delpero has created a deeply personal and human story that recalls the great neorealist movement in Italian cinema, but in Lucia’s perspective, ‘Vermiglio’ feels special and new.