Maura Delpero’s second feature “Vermiglio, the Mountain Bride” – which is being presented at the Venice Production Bridge, the industry program of the Venice Film Festival, this week – has tapped Giuseppe De Domenico as its lead.
The Italian actor, known for “Zero Zero Zero” and Prime Video’s “Bang Bang Baby,” will play Pietro, a young soldier who in 1944 arrives in a small mountain village in Trentino, northern Italy.
As declared by the film’s tagline, change is around the corner: “Last year of World War II. In the Italian Alps, a single rifle shot ends a young woman’s innocence.”
“Maura saw many young actors and some of them were very good, but Giuseppe was able to stand out thanks to his subtle acting style. He understood what it meant to come back from a war,” says Francesca Andreoli, who produces for Italy’s Cinedora.
“He is so dedicated and passionate, and had a great chemistry with Martina Scrinzi, who plays the female lead.”
Tommaso Ragno, Carlotta Gamba, Roberta Rovelli, Orietta Notari and Sara Serraiocco round out the cast.
Sold in international markets by France’s Charades, the film is co-produced by Carole Baraton for Charades, and Tatjana Kozar for Belgium’s Versus. Production started on Aug. 28.
“Vermiglio, the Mountain Bride” will be lensed by acclaimed DOP Mikhail Krichman, known for his collaborations with Andrey Zvyagintsev, winning a European Film Award for “Loveless” in 2017, and awarded in Venice in 2010 for “outstanding technical contribution” for Aleksey Fedorchenko’s “Silent Souls.”
“Maura loved his previous work, and we are proud to have him on board. Because of the current situation [the war in Ukraine] he couldn’t confirm his participation until the very end, but we managed to overcome all difficulties. He really loved the script and they exchanged a lot of ideas also during pre-production,” adds Andreoli.
Gian Luca Mattei will edit, while Andrea Cavalletto is the film’s costume designer.
Delpero, who also wrote the script, was interested in combining “everyday life and big events.”
“Paying homage to great historical ‘frescoes,’ it also inserts individual desires into this community’s choral narrative. In this sense, ‘Vermiglio’ brings an original perspective to the period film genre, paying attention to the desires and feelings of young women who unlock the true potential of the film,” she says.
Previously, Delpero delivered “Maternal,” awarded at Locarno and Torino. Now, she will tell the story of those “left out by the war machine,” she notes.
“It’s also a film about this passage from the old to the modern world, from village to town, from community to individuality. Of course, it tells a love story too, but it’s about children and adults, and the way they manage to stay close when faced with life and death, disappointments and rebirths. All the while surrounded by mountains, reminding them how small they are every day.”
Rai Cinema, IDM Sud-Tyrol Film Fund, Trentino Film Fund, MIC, CNC Cinéma du Monde, Région Ile de France, Panama Distribution and Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles are also attached.
“From her earliest work, Maura has displayed a graceful and skilful command of film techniques, as well as a natural talent for telling original and compelling stories. The success of ‘Maternal’ gives me great confidence when it comes to Vermiglio’s potential,” Andreoli adds, comparing it to such achievements as Ermanno Olmi’s “The Tree of Wooden Clogs,” Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” and Bernardo Bertolucci’s “1900,” albeit this time “filtered through a female lens.”
“Its original perspective really struck me, as it talks about war from the point of view of those who were left behind. It’s a war film with no guns or bombs, in which only one shot is fired,” Andreoli says.
