In beautiful Vicenza back in 1980, a child is born to Maria Macola (Valentina Bellè) and her forgiving doctor husband Osvaldo (Paolo Pierobon) after years of trying. When their daughter Rebecca is revealed to have a prominent birthmark on the right side of her face, this quickly causes Maria to experience the beginnings of a years-long depression, even though there isn’t, of course, anything actually wrong with the kid.
Leaping forward in time to when Rebecca is 6 (and played by Viola Basso), Maria’s condition has worsened, and Rebecca’s Aunt Erminia (Sonia Bergamasco) does most of the parenting. When pianist Erminia discovers that Rebecca has a true musical gift, this brings great joy for her and Osvaldo, and while Maria seems pleased too, it isn’t long until she’s back to screaming and self-indulgent agonising.
Scenes where Maria, for example, wakes up Rebecca in the dead of night to scrape the side of the girl’s face in order to somehow wash off the mark, are hard to watch, so it’s a relief when Rebecca is allowed to go to school and meets Lucilla (Flora Zambello), who becomes a lifelong friend and introduces Rebecca to a new and happy side of life. Our protagonist also finds her talents leading her away from her home, as they usually do.
Due to a decided lack of humour (and an awful lot of pain), it’s the young actresses playing Rebecca at key points that give this the heart it really needs. And young Basso is probably the best of the group, because at this tender age the bewildered girl can’t understand why her mother is behaving so monstrously.
Other adults tell her that she’s perfect, but she simply can’t believe it because of what Mama says.
THE LIFE APART (M)
(3.5 out of 5)
The Life Apart is screening as part of the St. Ali Italian Film Festival 2025. Details: palacenova.com.au
