Cristina Comencini is the daughter of legendary Italian director Luigi Comencini, one of the makers of the Italian comedy from the Fifties to the Seventies. Cristina is an established director as well -she's also an appreciated writer. Her films are very different from the features of her father -either they're more dramatical or contain a less hilarious comedy.
"La bestia nel cuore" means "The beast in the heart" in English. The film is based on a book written by Cristina Comencini herself.
Sabina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), a dubbing actress, wants to see again her brother Daniele (Luigi Lo Cascio) -who works in America as a Universitiy teacher. They both share a terrible experience: when they were child they were abused by their father.
This horrible experience is like a beast in the heart because it's impossible to recover from. They search for truth and try to elaborate it. In this film there are other characters with painful situations. Emilia (Stefania Rocca) is a blind woman friend of Sabina, she's lesbian; Maria (Angela Finocchiaro) is a 50 year old woman who faces the fact of having been left by her husband for a very very young girl. These people too have a beast in their heart.
The film is dramatical, of course, but the atmosphere is not heavy at all -there are also moments in which we can laugh. So the film doesn't go in only one direction.
There are a lot of reflection hints, it's not an easy film -because we all have bigger or smaller beasts in ourselves...-. But you don't go out of the cinema depressed and sad, not at all. There's a message of hope.
The film his a high quality movie, with excellent actors. Giovanna Mezzogiorno won a price at the last Venice Film Festival: she deserved it because she acts very well. She's dramatical but in a believable way -she doesn't put too much emphasis and pathos in the role. A real actress.
