There's something a bit different from CinemaItaliaUK this week, as it pairs two features and a short in its annual Donne di Mafia event at the Garden Cinema in London. See below for our coverage of Marta Savina's Primadonna: The Girl From Tomorrow.
Francesco Costabile's Una Femmina: The Code of Silence is also a debut feature. Although it draws on the Calabrian director's own childhood memories, it takes its principal inspiration from the testimonies in crusading journalist Lirio Abbate's book, Rebel Women. In particular, it reflects on the experience of Denise Cosco, who refused to be cowed while investigating the fate of her mother, Lea Garofalo, who had disappeared in suspicious circumstances.
Now in her early twenties, Rosa (Lina Siciliano) keeps having nightmares about the last time she saw her mother, Cetta (Francesca Ritrovato). She recalls her returning home after a prolonged absence and vanishing after supposedly falling sick in the night. According to Rosa's grandmother, Berta (Anna Maria De Luca), Cetta killed herself. But Rosa has her doubts, as she remembers waking in the night and seeing her uncle, Salvatore (Fabrizio Ferracane), behaving oddly.
He remains a forbidding presence and keeps wife Rita (Simona Malato) and son Natale (Luca Massaro) firmly in their place on the farm they run outside a small hillside town. Rosa is aware that her uncle and cousin are hiding something in the barn, but she is told to keep away. She also knows that Natale is a loose cannon, who is jealous of her friendship with Gianni (Mario Russo), who works at the local cemetery and who serenades her during a wedding reception.
Refusing to be intimidated by a visit from the menacing Ciccio (Vincenzo Di Rosa), Rosa falls ill after coming to the aid of the Black woman who had been attacked by a frantic Natale. She overhears the doctor telling her uncle that she suffers from the same spells as her mother and annoys Berta by asking questions about Cetta and her supposed suicide.
Aware that Gianni knows everything about burials in the town, Rosa demands to see her mother's last resting place. She is furious to discover that Cetta has been hidden away under a false name and returns for supper in a confrontational mood. When Salvatore sends her to fetch bread, she refuses and is beaten. Looking up at the moon, she plots her revenge.
Feigning illness, Rosa waits until the rest of the family has gone to work before torching the barn full of cocaine. She also smears blood on her bedsheets and informs Salvatore that four men had visited the farm and he vows to punish them. He accuses the Pacchiuni clan, although Ciccio insists that he would not risk the 20-year peace that has existed since Cetta was silenced after going to the police.
Salvatore accepts his word and asks Rosa if she has her mother's reckless spirit. She reassures him, only to finish him off after Gianni had shot him in the knee. After the funeral, Natale summons Gianni and some other pals to desecrate the grave of Ciccio's father. Rather than lash out, however, he asks Berta to bring Rosa to his home, so that he can propose a marital truce. He also warns her that Gianni will pay unless he remembers his place.
Frightened, Gianni seeks out Rosa and suggests they flee together. But she refuses to buckle, even after a pig's head is left on the family table. Berta consents to the union in order to avoid a bloodbath and Ciccio tells Rosa that she should be grateful to him for rescuing her from a family that forced her mother to drink acid to purge her of her sins.
But Rosa has no intention of succumbing, even after Gianni is shot after they are caught in bed together. Donning a black dress and veil, she pays a visit to Berta and forces her to relive the part she played in her own daughter's demise. Rosa tells her she's expecting a daughter, but has no intention of letting her grow up in this cesspool. As we see Rosa leading a procession of veiled women defiantly singing out against the crime and violence that has blighted their lives, she emerges from a narrow alleyway to find a police car waiting to take her away to a new life.
Exploring how domestic violence is linked to organised crime, as footsoldiers used to taking orders lash out at the nearest defenceless target, this is an unsettling film that distills the undercurrents percolating through Calabrian society. However, this isn't simply a denunciation of toxic masculinity, as Costabile also points the finger at those women who buy into concepts of clan honour and perpetuate the codes of silence that leave them vulnerable to violence.
Although mention is made of drug dealing, Costabile is less interested in the crimes committed and the impact they have on their victims than the moral dilemmas facing the dependents who benefit from the misdeeds of their loved ones. Thus, Rosa reserves her special ire for Berta, who opted to sacrifice her daughter in order to protect her son and the lifestyle he provided.
The storytelling is a little imprecise in places, but Costabile generates an oppressive atmosphere that is reinforced by the slow movements of Giuseppe Maio's camera and the scowling swirls of Valerio Camporini Faggioni's score. In addition to making evocative use of the tight streets and rugged scenery, Costabile also draws an intense performance out of Lina Siciliano, whom he discovered while searching for extras. Her stillness draws attention to the smouldering fire in her eyes, as the gravity of her situation dawns and she focusses on her pitiless revenge. The support playing is equally authentic, although the protest procession (for all its potency) feels a tad strained.