A Chiara
Jonas Carpignano continues his exploration of Calabrian microcosms with an ultra-personal coming-of-age story that doesn’t fall for mob movie tropes
A Chiara filters morality through the moody gaze of the eponymous 15-year-old (Swamy Rotolo), whose world is about to crumble. When her father goes on the lam, Chiara’s eyes burn with questions about her family’s ties with the local organised crime outfit, the ‘ndrangheta. Dismissed by the adults around her, she takes it upon herself to find answers to her questions.
Director Jonas Carpignano opens a window to a community where rituals and hierarchical structures are central. The film presents Chiara’s sister’s 18th birthday party and a drug deal in equally great, mundane details, not making a spectacle out of either. The usual, sensationalistic spiel on mob stories is stripped to the bone, with violence existing outside Chiara’s point of view and never being exploited for its shock value or turned into a moral parable.
As in his previous films about the town of Gioia Tauro, Calabria, Carpignano works with non-professional actors. In interviews, the filmmaker has revealed he would only let his main cast in on what would happen in a scene directly on the day. This choice limits the interactions between the characters, but it allows their unspoken conflict to build up in hyperrealistic, semi-improvised conversations, brimming with such tenderness and urgency you’ll almost feel like you’re standing next to them.
Swamy Rotolo steals the show as Chiara. The young actor delivers a fierce performance, encompassing a wave of raw emotions the protagonist may have only just discovered, finding her rage and voice in an uneven trajectory.
Released 15 Jul by MUBI; certificate TBC