L'Arminuta (2021) User Reviews

An alien among her own.

[chand-suhas · 6/10 · 12 October 2022]

Just came out of the free screening and not having read the novel beforehand, I went in fresh into the world of L'Armunita. She is returned back to her biological parents by her adoptive father who is stone-hearted to even bid her a proper goodbye. Not knowing why this is happening with the sole information of her mother (adoptive) being sick, the little girl has to battle all her fears with a new family whom she is unaware of. It is her younger sister Adriana who is the only welcoming member of the new family.

It is indeed a slow burner, the sense of abandonment, the fear of not belonging in the new family, the dark incestuous turn it takes suddenly and the tragedy that follows. The screenplay does pack a lot for a 13 year old to bear and is also tough for the audience too. Firmly aided by the imagery that leave a strong impression, her new world / family is well established. Coming from the rich to now thrown into a poor family, the struggles are captured as well as emoted well.

I did wish for the film to have had a crisper runtime as it did tend to drag itself in the third act but for the reveal, this felt important. But the longer wait to know why exactly this girl was returned, does add on to the runtime and honestly, it was Adriana's presence that made the final act worth it than the titular character. It was my first ever Italian film on the big screen and I would definitely cherish it.

Gorgeous film but contrived plot

[encephalomonster · 8/10 · 27 August 2022]

"L'Arminuta" is a difficult film to evaluate. The cinematography is beautiful (contrasting town and countryside in 1970s Italy) and the direction self-assured. And yet the circumstances strain credulity.

Two very different sets of parents -- one adoptive, one biological -- each withhold even the slightest sign of affection from their 13-year-old daughter (though both mothers are shown to be emotionally bonded with other of their children). This girl, darling and (initially) well-behaved, is utterly frozen out, even by the mother and father who raised her and once cared about her. The cruelty advances the storyline and pulls at viewers' heartstrings yet never feels credible.

I found the film to be well worth watching, despite this central flaw.

She who's back

[Ladiloque · 6/10 · 23 March 2022]

5-10 masterful scenes dragged down a bit by uneven acting and an unsatisfying (or unbelievable?) plot resolution.

Photography, music and direction present us an almost unknown not so young director that deserve more attention in the sad panorama of contemporary italian movie industry. OFC the screenplay (based on a best-seller novel I haven't read and a theatrically staged spin-off) may be contributing a lot to the final result - with a poignant family drama witnessed by the eyes of a brillant adolecent girl - yet the film keeps the viewer glued with its elegant imagery and soundtrack despite a very quiet pace and uneventful storyline.

A pleasant, technically perfect, thought provoking and sometimes even touching experience, unfortunately unable to vibrate my deepest chords: some actors aren't really doing what they're supposed to, and the conclusion of the drama with the "great revelation" is poor. I hoped they didn't indulge in the trendy scandalous passion for incest, rape and the likes but it would have been much better than what we get here after all the build up.

Some subbing of the dialect might have been a good idea too: I've missed not more than 10 sentences overall... but that's not ideal nonetheless.