Come il vento

I saw yesterday at an industry screening in Los Angeles the film Come Il Vento, (Like the wind). It's a powerful film, with a strong, sorrowful character. Armida Miserere, one name two tragedies as she ironically calls herself, was a woman that was strangled by a power system (the jail) dominated by violence and corruption. She had to be strong, sometime hard, but the film shows that she tries in anyway to keep her humanity. In fact, even if the film tells a dark story, it's not heavy or hard to watch, but rather moving and engaging. Valeria Golino, this wonderful Italian actress with an extensive American film background, gives to Armida her vitality and her sensuality and makes this controversial role genuine sympathetic. The film subject could easily be made for television, and in some moment it could fall in the genre, but the director's approach has a unique style, it's always original and digs deeply into the story and the character. I was totally blown away from such a powerful film and I think this is one of those kind of film that will stay in time. The film was released only recently in Italy after screening at the Rome film festival and still waits its international premiere, I believe it deserves the best form the festival circuits and from distributors world wide.

Based on a true story, Come il vento (Like the wind) is the story of Armida Miserere, one of the first women to be a prison governor in Italy, holding the position in some of the most dangerous institutions in the country, In 1990, following threats of bullets sent to her in the mail, her partner Umberto Mormile, an educator working with inmates in the Opera prison, was executed in a mafia hit. Come il vento covers Miserere's efforts to find who was responsible for the killing of her partner and why he was targeted, up until the moment she took her own life in 2003.

Marco Simon Puccioni's film has the potential to be quite harrowing then, but it manages to cover these key points of Armida's life in a fashion that is neither too gritty realist not overly dramatised. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite do anything much more than this; when there is considerable material there to look at her achievements and point out some of the problems with the Italian prison system - and the kind of people locked up there - the little dramatisation thereis is instead focussed on Armida's relationships with other men in her ultimately failed attempts to get over the horror of Umberto's death.

Between Mormile's death in 1990 and Miserere's suicide in 2003, the film does little more than hop around Italy to the various posts where Armida was governor, including Lodi, Parma, Palermo (in Sicily) and Sulmona, where she would take her life in her residence on the prison grounds at the age of 47. There is some attempt made to show the kind of clean-up operations that she organised there as governor in an effort not only to reduce drug use but to also put an end to brutal beatings of prisoners, and there is some indication of the formidable reputation she would gain as a woman governor that would earn her the name of "she-beast", but this aspect is superficial and repetitive.

Obviously, the most dangerous posting for a prison governor would be in Palermo, but you get little sense of the character of the place, with even the confession and conviction of the killers of Giovanni Falcone, the Palmero judge who challenged the mafia, taking place off-screen. The coverage of the eventual trial of Umberto Mormile's killers in the Calabrese mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, also occupies a surprisingly brief episode in the film, and the outcome clearly brings Miserere no peace,. If it lacks a sufficiently dramatic structure and misses opportunities to provide a little more insight into the Italian justice system and the operations of the mafia, Come il vento nonetheless operates well in the context of a love story, showing Armida Miserere's struggling to deal with the brutality of the murder of her lover and struggling to carry on, but ultimately finding herself unable to bear the weight of a great love cut too short.

It's rare to find a prison movie from the pov of the warden of the prison. Armida Miserere was a real and very special warden. One of he first female director to run jail in Italy. She had a tragic life and Valeria Golino plays the role with intensity. I believe this is one of her best role if not the best I've ever seen her playing. The film is interesting also for the script and the structure. Puccioni is a good director and follow the sorrow of the character with civil passion. A A must watch.

Every frame of this film was extraordinarily beautiful. I felt as though I was visiting Italy. The films locations and sets appeared to be authentic. The music score matched the movie content perfectly. The story line progressed flawlessly, building the drama and tension as the plot unfolded. The authenticity of the characters was enhanced by the inclusion of the cigarettes and profuse smoking. I personally quit smoking over five years ago and must admit that I wanted a cigarette as I watched this film. I resisted, but felt the tension none the less. Another thing that I appreciated was that the English subtitles were easy to follow without distracting from watching the movie. Casting? What can I say? I am in love with Valeria Golino. She is so talented and so beautiful. The male actors were exceptional as well. Days after watching the DVD I found myself thinking, actually, ruminating about the film. It is a valuable addition to my movie library. Kudos to the Director, Producer and writers of this exceptional film.

Extremely engaging film. You are pulled into the story immediately. One develops loyalty to the main characters. This is a strong indication that the casting was perfect. The cinematography was superb. Beautiful vistas throughout. The director was able to guide the cast expertly that demonstrated pathos throughout. Thankfully there were moments of levity that helped to lighten the mood.

The English sub-titles are sometimes a burden for someone that does not speak Italian. However, in this instance, it was not a distraction. The scenes were so well constructed that the picture flowed seamlessly even with the sub-titles. The only objection was the incessant smoking. This apparently is a European fact and American will just have to accept.

Excellent job by all involved.