A Chiara

(2021) A Chiara (In Italian with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA/ CRIME

Co- produced, written and directed by Jonas Carpignano that appears to showcase the Guerrasio family what the other regular families do. It consists of a mom, Carmela (Carmela Fumo) and dad, Claudio (Claudio Rotolo), the oldest daughter Giulia (Grecia Rotolo); 15 year old, Chiara (Swamy Rotolo); and their youngest member of the family, Giorgia (Giorgia Rotolo). We see Chiara exercising on the treadmill before she is driven home by her family, and while fiddling around with her phone and fooling around with her baby sister, father and other sister. The next scene has oldest sister, Giulia celebrating her 18th birthday celebrating in a restaurants along with other family members that includes cousins, aunts and uncles. During this fun evening Chiara on occasion sneaks off for a vaping/ cigarette while her dad is not looking, until after the evening was over, she was caught puffing by family members. One of them threaten to tell her dad unless she were to tell her dad about it first. And it was at this point, it becomes interesting is when the father ditches his entire family, and upon Chiara attempting to follow him and her mom outside- the family car explodes. Chiara's mom then grabs her and tries to convince her not to get involve with whatever what her dad is doing. And 15 year old Chiara becomes more involved after reading on her phone that said her dad, Claudio Guerrasio is now a wanted man or a runaway fugitive, she becomes more drawn to it, and at the expense of skipping classes; clashing with other peers and arguing with her own sister and family members.

What I liked about this movie are the Italian customs involving what it system does whenever children who who become misguided and are heading toward the wrong path. What did not make much sense is the fact that after Chiara ran away from gov't ministry who attempted to straighten her out , why there was not too much effort not to look for her. She kind of decided to go back on her own after she hung around long enough to see what her dad had been doing, before she realizes she did not like what she had been seeing. We also do not see too much about the impact on rival gang members as well.

The premise and plot are good. Actors did a good job too. My main objections are three:

1. I didn't like the handheld shaky cam cinematography. I thought it was inappropriate for the story and made it difficult to get perspective on the settings.

2. They don't really explain much about Chiara as a person. All of the energy is given to how she reacts to certain situations, but there's not much explanation for why she, unlike her sister, reacts as she does. We are expected to take a lot for granted.

3. They could have cut 30 minutes from this movie without losing anything. The first half in particular takes forever to get where it's going.

All in all, it's worth a watch. I am surprised it won a major award at Cannes. It seems very film student-y to me. Lots of good ideas weighed down by not knowing when to stop with the cinematic flourishes and just get to the storytelling.

Kind of one of the best italian films of te last years..especially if you live in Italy,if not maybe a litle bit akward ...but if you jave patience itnwill reward you,very nice movie.

This coming of age film brings you into the world of Chiara with such skill that it is hard fault, in fact it should be highly celebrated. Great local casting and directing, loved it!

I tried to watch this film, but the cinematography made me want to vomit so I stopped after a while.

What's the point of trying to tell a story using a gimmick such as a shaky cam, to the point of ruining the film (and years after its expiration date)? To make things worse, most of the shots are extreme closeups, making it impossible to see what is going on in any scene or even on an actor's face. A double whammy for a serious viewer.

A good film is a good story well told. This one is so poorly "told" that it is unwatchable. Too bad, they could've just put a camera on a tripod and saved themselves some effort and possibly get a watchable feature in the end.

All in all, unwatchable, and judging by the cinematography, probably flawed in many other ways too.