1944. Towards the end of WWIIin Vermiglio -a high, remote mountain village in the Italian Alps -the arrival of Pietro, a deserted soldier, disrupts the dynamics of a local family, changing them forever. Pietro, a Sicilian, keeps mostly to himself. However, he establishes a mild flirtation with Lucia -the eldest daughter of Cesare, the much-respected village schoolteacher. Soon, Pietro and Lucia are falling in love. But their pairing sets in motion a series of events that pushes the family towards tragedy and shakes the entire village.Told in four chapters, each set in a different season, Maura Delpero’s film is powerful and stunning. Beautifully photographed and filled with emotion, it’s a story of women, war and family.
Director: Maura Delpero
Cast : Tommaso Ragno, Giuseppe de Domenico, Roberta Rovelli, Martina Scrinzi
‘★★★★ It is wonderfully acted with unaffected naturalism by its cast of professionals and newcomers and plays an extravagant, almost shameless pizzicato on the audience’s heartstrings..’’
-Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
‘‘The remarkable, raw-boned and ravishing Vermiglio takes place in the past but operates like a future family secret playing out in the present tense, a perspective that is not quite Godlike, but comes from that which we might as well call God.’’
-Jessica Kiang, Variety
‘’Delpero masterfully captures the characters’ experiences and psychology through gesture, performance, and framing rather than dialogue. Krichman’s cinematography, perhaps the best of the year, invokes painting and theater.’’
-Lucia Ahrensdorf, The Film Stage
