SWORN VIRGIN (Vergine Giurata) (2015) - ♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Laura Bispuri

Written by - Laura Bispuri, Francesca Manieri (based on a novel by Elvira Dones)

Starring - Alba Rohrwacher

 

"Two girls brought up together brought up in the rural side of Albania flee the sorry destiny of a female from those parts in two very different ways - one, Lila, migrates to Italy while the other, Hana, re-invents herself as Mark, posing as a man and swearing to eternal virginity. The two's paths cross once again years later when Hana shows up at Lila's door, hoping to get some help in also starting her life anew in Italy. 

 
A striking examination of female issues, which reveals a cultural descrimination possibly never before explored in cinema through striking realism but also a disarming subtlety. The film is in fact very quiet, treating its subject with seriousness, through a lack of excessive emphasis on the story's melodramatic aspect, a documentary-like camera style and a lack of stylistic emphasis such as the use of music to manipulate a viewer's emotional response to the film. 
 
SWORN VIRGIN also balances well the narrative struture that follows the parallel storylines of present day and the upbringing of the two girls as they become more and more aware of the role of a woman destined to either become a wife or a servant. 
 

ALBA ROHRWACHER is not entirely believable as a man in the Italian environment, but she brings a lot of intensity to her difficult role. Her process of adaptation to a strange environment is perhaps overlooked in favour of the fictional documentation of her path to self re-discovery as a woman, but it is also thanks to her that the conflict of her character remains believable on a narrative level throughout the film's duration."

 

Drama, Italy/Switzerland/Germany/Albania/Kosovo/France