With ‘Vermiglio,’ Maura Delpero Offers a Film Cut Through With High Regard: for the Characters and for the Audience
‘Vermiglio’ is a film of profound emotional gravity, an exegesis on family, faith, and circumstance that spares no one and yet doesn’t capitulate to despair.
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Vermiglio looks like a beautiful place. Located toward the northern reaches of Italy, this comune is surrounded by deep woods and a branch of the Alps commonly referred to by its tallest peaks, Adamello and Presanella. There aren’t many residents on hand — the population comes in at around 1,800 — but the area’s historical importance belies its size. Vermiglio was strategic during World War I because of its proximity to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The township of Vermiglio is seen to astonishing effect in Maura Delpero’s new film of the same name. Working with ace cinematographer Mikhail Krichman — some viewers may remember his work on Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “The Return” (2003) — Ms. Delpero captures the grandeur of the surrounding landscape without capitulating to the picturesque. The characters seen hiking through its byroads are rendered miniscule, being all too aware of their place in the grander scheme of things. The director’s compositional know-how, austere and appreciative, reiterates as much.
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