Review: Ferine (2019)
The dawn is falling over the wood to the euphonious sound of birds chirping, sprinkling the trees with branches stretching high up to reach the sky, with dark blue light. A pair of hands lifting a rock penetrate this idyllic picture, and when they furiously hit their target, a cracking sound echoes from below. The blue light immediately sinks to its chiaroscuro depths, turning the wood into a gloomy place.
A woman (Anna della Rosa), appears out of the wood, all in rags and covered in dirt. She slips into a modern villa, like she owns the place. At least, she appears to know exactly where the things she needs are, and she exits the house as a completely different person.
At first, her mission seems pointless and one is wrongly led to believe that she might have been a captive, or a victim of other type of crime who’s still under a shock. When she drives into a large empty rooftop parking lot and starts observing the busy area in front of a shopping mall, it looks like she’s waiting for someone until her attention gets caught by an unexpected passer-by. Her interest is intense, her gaze direct, and the premonition of imminent desaster is born. All previous constructs about her background and recent past are suddenly gone, and the colour of her dress turns into a little tribute to “giallo”.
Writer/ director Andrea Corsini didn’t use as much as a sentence in his script that is built on strong visuals and excellent performances by both lead actors. Della Rosa is diabolical as the woman on her ruthless quest, ice-cold and calculated, led by primal instinct. Allesandro Mor also delivers a memorable performance. Before tranforming into a dread-filled victim, he is the embodiment of a typical macho who between urinating in public space and having a quicky on the parking lot, has a phone conversation with his dominating mother.
This intelligently plotted, shudder inducing horror drama had its world premiere at Critics Week in Venice last year, and after 13 months of travelling across the globe winning one festival award after the other, Ferine has finally reached Vienna where it was screened in “Dark Delicacies” short film selection at SLASH Filmfestival.
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Year: 2019
Runtime: 17 minutes
Written/ Directed by: Andrea Corsini
Produced by: Beppe Manzi, Erika Ponti
Co-produced by: Giorgia Priolo, Francesco Grisi
Cinematographer: Francesco di Pierro
Editor: Matteo Mossi
Production Design: Martino Bonanomi
Mix/ Sound Design: Tomasso Barbaro
Sound Editor: Nico Palermo
Foley Artist: Agit Utlu
Music by: Diego Galeri
Special Effects: Mary Parpinel
Colourist: Danilo Vittori
Costume Design: Valentina Carcupino
Cast: Anna Della Rossa, Alessandro Mor, Mathias Magistrati, Noemi de Luca
