Director: Damiano Michieletto

Stars: Tecla Insolia, Michele Riondino, Andrea Pennacchi

For his feature debut, Italian director Michieletto delivers a solid period drama. The setting is the Ospedale della Pietà in 18th century Venice, a huge orphanage where the young inmates are taught music. In fact, the orphanage has one of the world’s most highly regarded orchestras. Still, the Ospedale seems more like a nunnery with the students cloistered away with little contact with the outside world. When they do get a chance to perform, for the rich patrons, they do so behind a grille. Twenty-year-old Cecilia (Insolia) is the most accomplished violinist. When composer Vivaldi (Riondino) is recruited as a music teacher, he quickly spots her talent and singular instincts. A close pupil-teacher relationship develops. Cinematographer Daria D'Antonio’s delivers a lush rendering of the 19th century interiors, and despite a slightly middlebrow feel, the drama is bolstered by some jaunty rhythmic editing during the musical sequences, and a script that tackles knotty feminist themes. Insolia’s Cecilia is a quietly doughty heroine, and Riondino, even if his hunky healthy appearance belies Vivaldi’s severe asthmatic state, is winningly noble.

David Willoughby

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