Primadonna

I saw this at London Film Festival and it blew me away. It tells the story of Lia, a girl growing up in a rural village in 1960's Sicily who gets into a relationship with a boy who turns out to be very bad, and, to make things worse, he is a member of the local monster family. It is the story of her fight for her honour, justice and future.

The performance by Claudio Gusmano as Lia is outstanding, and the cast overall is top notch. The film is beautifully shot, the story telling is top notch, and, as it is a true story, the story is important, and resonates with events now.

All in all, well worth seeing.

From the first shot of our courageous protagonist, you know this story will be powerful. A wonderful, at times quietly heartbreaking watch that inspires a sense of strength and resiliency. The topic could not be more poignant. At a time when women across the world are losing their human rights, it does not matter that this takes place in 60's Sicily, any woman that has felt oppression at the hands of men, religion, and even the law will instantly understand and relate. The lead actress is brilliant, you believe her passion, her pain, her frustration, and her joy. Beautifully told, it is an absolute must watch!

There are both cute and funny moments, but this important film is about the opression by Sicilian Cosa Nostra and, above it, about the struggle of women against miaogynous social rules and judicial laws. While turning radically the atmosphere, becoming harsh and tense sometomes, this moving film keeps spectator's attention throughout its length. It is remarkable that it is the directorial debut of Marta Savina. Not less impressive is the fantastic performance of Claudia Gusmano, shining both in funny and dramatic scenes. Her character Lia Crimi is based in Franca Viola, the first Italian woman ever to win a judgement in the court aginst the rapist who intended to marry her, in 1960's, what eventually led to the very change of reparation marriage law.

Very good movie overall. The story is very interesting and important, definitely a must see to realize from how far we've come as humanity and that it has taken us a very long time to get here.

The shots are beautiful too, almost photogenic. It shows the countryside of Italy. A part we most of the times don't see in the big budget movies.

The only thing I wanted was a longer, detailed movie. More in depth on the characters, as I had the feeling that is what needed to tell a story of this magnitude.

Overall a very decent movie which I would've given a 7,5 if IMDb let me. I hope this film gets more exposure than it is getting right now.