V E N T N O R   F I L M  S O C I E T Y​​

Filmed with painterly grace under natural light, the breathtaking beauty of the Alps provides the backdrop for Vermiglio, Maura Delpero’s visionary drama and winner of the 2024 Venice Silver Lion.

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Set in a remote mountain village during the waning days of WWII, the story follows a large family whose lives are suspended in the customs of a fading era. Their world shifts when Pietro, a taciturn Sicilian soldier, arrives seeking sanctuary after deserting the army. His subsequent romance and marriage to the eldest daughter, Lucia, initially offers a glimmer of hope amidst the isolation. However, as peace returns to Italy, a devastating revelation about Pietro’s past surfaces, irrevocably altering the family’s future and their bond with the land.

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Drawing from her own ancestral history, Delpero crafts a deeply personal tale that evokes the spirit of Italian neorealism. Yet, by centering the narrative on Lucia’s perspective, Vermiglio emerges as a distinct and novel portrait of a family caught between the weight of tradition and the scars of war.

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To maintain the film’s authenticity, Delpero combined established actors with non-professionals. Whilst Tommaso Ragno, a veteran Italian actor, plays the stern schoolmaster, the children in the film are local residents. Delpero specifically looked for kids who "didn't look influenced by contemporary life"—noting that the children in the film had never used mobile phones, preserving a "timeless" quality in their faces

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​To book, please email ventnorfilmsociety@hotmail.com.

 

The Critics Say...

“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 ****

 

“Delpero’s dense, meticulous accumulation of intimate detail makes us feel that we’re really inhabiting this small universe, with all its harshness and its comforts, as much at home in it as the family.” Jonathan Romney, Sunday Times *****

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“The rhythms are stately and momentous, with Mikhail Krichman’s photography and the director’s exquisite framing reminding us of the medium’s extraordinary capacity for beauty.” Hilary A White, Sunday Independent *****

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