The lush and stunning beauty of the Alps, filmed with painterly grace under natural light from freezing winter to redeeming spring, provides the physical and emotional backdrop for “Vermiglio,” Maura Delpero’s visionary film, which won the Silver Lion at the 2024 Venice Film Festival
Set in the small mountain village of Vermiglio in the final days of World War II, this unique portrait of a far-flung family follows a series of dramatic, momentous events following the arrival of a taciturn Sicilian soldier (Giuseppe De Domenico) who hides in town after deserting from the army
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 frozen in time by the customs of a declining era
By invoking stories from her own family’s past, Delpero creates a deeply personal and human narrative that is reminiscent of the great neorealist movement of Italian cinema, but seems distinctive and novel from Lucia’s perspective
