…………………………………………………

Vermiglio Movie Review

Vermiglio is a 2024 Italian drama film directed by Maura Delpero. It’s a very well made, but rather uninvolving movie.

………………………………………………….

The movie is set in a remote village in 1944. The arrival of Pietro, a deserter, into the family of the local teacher, and his love for the teacher’s eldest daughter, will change the villagers’ lives. This is a very slow-moving film on purpose, but because the plot and the characters are not strong enough, I couldn’t get invested in the proceedings at any moment in time.

None of the actors could elevate these underwritten roles. The family dynamics are also written in an overly subtle manner. I am all up for nuance and sophistication, but not to the degree that you don’t really notice any change or conflict in the characters’ inner or outer worlds.

Vermiglio is worth seeing for its technical aspects. It’s a gorgeously shot movie that makes great use of its Alpine setting. The snowy landscapes and the isolating, rugged terrain made for a very intriguing atmosphere at first. However, I quickly grew tiresome of its moody tone that grew colder and colder as it went along with no respite to it whatsoever.

………………………………………………….

I get that this setting evokes those feelings, but I am growing impatient with European dramas that are so overbearingly austere and monotonous in tone. The movie is well scored, superbly shot throughout and well directed in terms of technical aspects, but the dialogue is so minimalistic and the themes so extremely subtle that the plot became pretty much an afterthought. There is only so far that an intriguing setting can take you if you don’t have a interesting story that accompanies it.