Luce review – enigmatic Italian drama of dreams and drones
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Loading... - Maaike Simpson
- 29 Aug 2024
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Luca Bellino and Silvia Luzi's latest film, Luce, is a mesmerizing yet perplexing cinematic experience that defies easy interpretation. This Italian drama is an exercise in opacity, with a narrative that recedes from the audience's grasp, leaving them to ponder the meaning behind the enigmatic scenes.
The film follows a young woman, played by Marianna Fontana, as she navigates her mundane life in a coastal Italian town. Her days are filled with the drudgery of working in a leather garment factory, where she is one of many women toiling on an automated production line. However, her life takes a turn when she becomes fascinated with a young photographer's drone, which seems to trigger a breakdown or epiphany, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.
The young woman begins to receive mysterious phone calls from an older man, whom she claims is her father. As their conversations continue, she becomes increasingly convinced of his identity, but the audience is left wondering if this is a genuine connection or a product of her imagination. She invents scenarios and characters, including a handsome fashion designer, to impress her supposed father, further blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy.
The film's climax features a stunning drone shot of the young woman, seen first in long shot and then closer up, as she smokes pensively on the beach. This shot is both captivating and disorienting, leaving the audience to question what is real and what is imagined. The drone's-eye view serves as a metaphor for the fragmented nature of the protagonist's reality, where the lines between truth and fantasy are constantly shifting.
Luce is a film that resists easy interpretation, instead inviting the audience to ponder the nature of identity and reality. It is a lucid dream, a remembered dream, or a puzzle about how we see ourselves, or invent ourselves. The film's enigmatic quality is both fascinating and frustrating, leaving the viewer to grapple with the meaning behind the dreamlike narrative.
