The lush, breathtaking beauty of the Alps, shot with painterly grace in natural light from chilly winter to redemptive spring, provides the physical and emotional backdrop for Maura Delpero’s visionary film, Vermiglio, which won the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Film Festival
This singular portrait of an extended family, set in the small mountain village of Vermiglio during the final days of World War II, follows a series of dramatic and consequential events following the arrival of a taciturn Sicilian soldier (Giuseppe De Domenico), who has gone into hiding in the town after deserting the army
While there, the soldier develops a romance with the family’s eldest daughter, Lucia (Martina Scrinzi)
Vermiglio depicts the life of a provincial family in a remote village suspended in time by the customs of a fading era
Evoking stories from his own family’s past, Delpero creates a deeply personal and human tale that recalls the great neorealist movement in Italian cinema, but from Lucia’s perspective, “Vermiglio” feels distinct and new
