L' amore molesto

L’AMORE MOLESTO, adopted from a novel by Elena Ferrante, is as ambitious and ambiguous as Mario Martone’s predecessor film, MORTE DI UN MATEMATICO NAPOLETANO (1993). Shot in Naples, this dark and disturbing film follows a young woman who returns to the city to investigate the strange circumstances surrounding the death of her mother, Amalia. The officials have judged it suicide, but the fact that the 70-year-old woman was found on a beach wearing only an expansive bra gives Delia pause. She sets out to find the truth and, in so doing, confronts her own unresolved feelings for her mother.
As Delia tries to ascertain what happened in the last days before Amalia’s death, she discovers parts of her mother’s life she never knew existed. And then there are Delia’s double-edged memories of her relationship with her mother. As the past spills into the present, Delia must come to grips with buried childhood traumas, which only reveal further, deeper conflicts.
Mario Martone set this story against a Neapoli-“tan” backdrop, where the city itself sets a tone of its own, subtly reinforcing Delia’s trip into parts of her past. Anna Bonaiuto captures the details of Delia’s uncommon voyage with great subtety, while Luca Bigazzi drenches the film in a palette of colors that complements the unsettling mood so central to this film. (Piers Handling)