Dir. Maura Delpero
2024 | 119 mins | Italy, France, Belgium
Italian with English subtitles
Tommaso Ragno, Roberta Rovelli, Martina Scrinzi

Showing Times

• Fri 17 Jan: 5.45pm
• Mon 20 Jan: 5.45pm
• Wed 22 Jan: 8pm
• Thu 23 Jan: 5.45pm
• Sat 25 Jan: 5.10pm
• Sun 26 Jan: 3.30 + Intro from Italian Culturual Association
• Tue 28 Jan: 5.10pm
• Wed 29 Jan: 11am

Towards the end of the Second World War, in a high, remote mountain village in the Italian Alps, the arrival of a refugee soldier alters the dynamics of the place forever.

Told in four chapters, to mirror the changing of the seasons, Maura Delpero’s stunningly beautiful and powerful new film takes us into the world of a remote Italian mountain village. It is nearing the end of the Second World War, something that has not really touched this place at all — until now.

A young Sicilian soldier named Pietro has carried his injured comrade Attilio all the way back to his mountain home, much of the journey with his passenger on his back. Hailed as a hero, Pietro is furnished with the best the village can provide. As a rare newcomer (and a Sicilian, so an exotic stranger), Pietro is much gossiped about but keeps to himself. He catches the eye of Lucia (Martina Scrinzi), the eldest daughter of the stern village schoolteacher (Tommaso Ragno), and soon the two are gently flirting and falling in love. This seemingly simple pairing of two young hearts sets off a sweeping series of events that shakes the village and a small town in Sicily, uncapping age-old misogyny, intolerance, and narrowness with tragic results.

Vermiglio is deeply moving from a narrative standpoint, but also a treat for the eye, as every scene is composed as a sonnet, beautifully photographed and filled with emotion as Delpero understands stillness like few other contemporary directors. Ultimately, it’s a story about women trapped in ancient traditional roles, who must bear the burden of men’s mistakes with no recourse of their own.

BBFC Rating

CTBA