Two year’s ago Edoardo De Angelis’s Indivisible was one of the hits of the Italian Film Festival. This year he returns with his new feature, The Vice of Hope.
Set in the same uber-depressed area around Naples that was the backdrop for Indivisible, it tells the story of Maria, a young woman working for the Camorra. Ferrying pregnant women up the river so that their babies can be sold, Maria is as much a victim as the women she transports. When her circumstances change, she starts to question what she is doing, and to push back against her Aunty’s declaration that “hope is a vice”.
Pina Turco is simply breathtaking as Maria, with great supporting performances from Massimiliano Rossi, Cristina Donadio and incredible young newcomer, Nancy Colarusso.
Umberto Contarello, best known for Loro, co-writes the screenplay. Ferran Paredes once again teams with De Angelis as cinematographer, delivering the sublime and the degraded with equal beauty and intensity.
Although grittier than Indivisible, this work still embraces some aspects of the folk-tale, both in imagery and narrative. It has starkness, detail, depth and rhythm. It is a brilliant piece of film-making.
The Vice of Hope plays as part of the Lavazza Italian Film Festival, running until October 23rd at PalaceNova Eastend and Prospect.
Click here for screening times.
BREATHTAKING 5 stars
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