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Love
and magic
In
a small village in Southern Italy, the love between Tonino
and Maddalena is threatened by Maddalena's cousin Teresa:
the daughter of a powerful man who grew rich through the
fish trade, she too is in love with the young man (who left
her at the altar), and plans to get him back by resorting to
the services of an old witch. The witchcraft causes a double
exchange of identity, but fails: preventing it is the
down-at-heel barber Angelantonio, the son of the old expert
in witchcraft...
"L'anima gemella" - a success in the
“Upstream” section of Venice 2002, which was blocked for
a long time due to the financial and judicial misfortunes of
Cecchi Gori - is the sixth feature film by Sergio
Rubini and his most successful work, revealing him as a
now mature author. The previous filmography shows the love
of Southern Italy - Apulia, already at the centre of “All
The Love There Is” (Tutto l'amore che c'e') - and the
preferences for the sun-kissed places of “Il viaggio della
sposa”; again, there is a happy tendency to leave the
realistic tune in favour of a colourful, excited and ornate
narration, only occasionally held back by a too controlled
and literary script.
Carnera's fine photography fully expresses the torrid and
feverish atmosphere of this splintered and figurative story;
the concerted performance of the actors is highly effective,
with a special mention going to the excellent Valentina
Cervi and Violante Placido. It must be added that the
discourse of Rubini the film-maker belongs with truly
uncommon potency to the branch of home-grown comedy.
Francesco
Troiano
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