Plot
In 1944, Lucia — eldest daughter of the stern teacher in the remote Trentino mountain village of Vermiglio — falls in love with Pietro, a deserter and veteran of Sicilian origins who has recently sought refuge in the village. Pietro agrees to marry Lucia, who is visibly pregnant at the wedding. As soon as news of the end of the war arrives, Pietro returns to Sicily with the aim of letting his loved ones know he has survived, promising his wife he will return soon. However, after Pietro disappears, the family learns from the newspaper that Pietro was already married to a Sicilian woman and has been killed by her.
Meanwhile, Lucia gives birth to Antonia, the baby she was expecting with Pietro. Pietro's death devastates Lucia, who falls into despair and rejects the child, contemplating suicide, from which her brother Dino saves her. During her gradual recovery, Lucia travels to Sicily, where she has a close encounter with Pietro's first wife and visits her husband's grave. Meanwhile, she has entrusted the child to an orphanage, where her younger sister Ada, who has become a nun, works. Finally, Lucia decides to go to the city to work for a wealthy family, promising herself she will return later for her daughter.
Reception
Critical response
The film received general positive reviews by critics. [15] [16] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 93% of 58 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10.The website's consensus reads: "Painterly and patient, Vermiglio carefully observes its provincial milieu to such absorbing effect that audiences will feel like they've become a part of the community." [17] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [18]
Jessica Kiang of Variety affirmed that "economy" is the watchword of "deceptively formalist" film, that results from "deceptively formalist" direction, editing, musical compositions to costumes, contributing "to a fascinating narrative remove, which is belied by the close-up clarity of the imagery". Kiang wrote that although the plot is set in the past, it "operates like a future family secret playing out in the present tense" through " the spirit of the mothers and the sisters and the daughters who came before and after, and who trusted the imperious mountains to keep their secrets". [19]
Italian critics
The film received favorable reviews from Italian film critics. [20] [21] Mattia Pasquini of Ciak wrote that like the previous film Maternal the screenplay is about the mother-child relationship set on an "extremely refined framework, both linguistically, stylistically and narratively coherent and homogeneous". [22] Federico Pontiggia of Cinematografo stated that the film draws on "[Delpero's] prior documentary experience with greater ambition, free will and calmness," observing that "the direction of actors is excellent, the anti-spectacle concept is cohesive and confident, the poetry of war and peace is marvelous. Here we have a consummate auteur: Maura Delpero." [23]
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