> The Sicilian Girl
Director: Marco Amenta
Cast: Veronica D'Agostino, Gérard Jugnot, Giulia Andò, Roberto Bonura, Paolo Briguglia, Francesco Casisa, Marcello Mazzarella, Mario Pupella.
Rating: (R16)
4 stars (out of 5)
Reviewed by Mark Orton
Cloaked in shafts of darkness from the first frame, The Sicilian Girl (Metro from next week) is not an easy film to get into. Stick with it though; gradually an evocative manipulation of light begins to reveal significant details related to community and vengeance within la Cosa Nostra.
Loosely based on the diaries of Rita Atria (Veronica D'Agostino), The Sicilian Girl takes the viewer into the complex web of Italian gangsters via an early-'90s legal milestone. Shifting time to accommodate young Rita's veneration of her father and her presence at his contract slaying, this Sicilian girl meticulously documents village life polluted by crime and retribution.
Once the drugs-trade power struggle pits the powerful local don against Rita's family, her natural instinct for revenge causes her to cross paths with the indomitable anti-Mafia judge (Gérard Jugnot).
Finding it difficult to excise ingrained family codes of conduct, Rita's totally authentic persona owes everything to D'Agostino's resolute performance.
As the tension is gradually ratcheted up, we are left with an unfettered insight into Italy's struggle with organised crime.
Free from any semblance of gangster cool, the mobsters themselves are largely mute. The story instead focuses on an individual struggle to break the back of systematic corruption. Utterly compelling.
Best thing: Veronica D'Agostino's performance, subtle yet mesmerising.
Worst thing: Lack of geography. We never really get to see Sicily outside the confines of the village square.
See it with: An understanding that Italian gangsters exist beyond Coppola and Scorsese films.
