Keswick Film Club - A Chiara

Synopsis

This is the third part of a loose Calabrian trilogy by director Jonas Carpignano. "At once a coming-of-age story and a mafia thriller, 'A Chiara' takes a look at organized crime in Southern Italy from the unique perspective of a teenage girl, Chiara (Swamy Rotolo). Her world is turned upside down after her father disappears and she tumbles down the rabbit hole after him, discovering he's a member of the 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate'" – Katie Walsh, The Wrap.

Taking non-professional actors in the first 2 parts, he extends their roles here: Chiara was a side character last time around, and now takes the lead, with Swamy Rotolo gaining great reviews as a fine actor in the making. Her real family play most of Chiara’s family – the Guerrasios - too.

Kate Walsh continues - "Carpignano immerses us into the world of the Guerrasio family at Giulia's 18th birthday party. It's a long, joyous, and celebratory scene, detailing all the small family dynamics, the loving rivalry between Chiara and Giulia, the close relationship the girls have with their father, who is a quiet, but proud man, and introduces the low-stakes conflict that is Chiara's uncles threatening to out her to her father as a smoker.

The party scene lulls the audience into a sense of warm safety, a bubble that's pierced dramatically, in an almost surreal fashion, when Chiara, curious about comings and goings at her house later that night, wanders into the street and witnesses a car bombing. There's Chiara before the explosion and Chiara after the explosion, and she'll never go back to who she was before"