The film was written to be set in Sicily: indeed, most of the scenes were filmed in the areas surrounding Ragusa and Catania. The slopes of Mount Etna, white with snow and black with lava, provide the backdrop framing the opening sequences, which follow shortly after the conclusion of a mysterious funeral.
Anna lives alone in the Sicilian countryside, rugged and beautiful, with the fog that periodically rises off the slopes of Etna (we can see the Silvestri Mountains here) and stops us from seeing any further, in a timeless villa: Villa Fegotto, an ancient estate in the Chiaramonte Gulfi countryside in the area surrounding Ragusa.
Caltagirone, with its alleyways, is the focal point of the film: a Baroque town and UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its ceramics, it was reconstructed in the 1700s after the earthquake of 1693. It nonetheless shows clear traces of the people who have settled there over the centuries, including the Romans, Byzantines, Saracens, Normans and Angevins, who used its strategic position, overlooking the plains of Gela and Catania, to their advantage, leaving behind a mix of styles and cultures.
The opening sequence of the film, the night-time Easter procession of hooded figures walking down the town’s monumental steps, which was inspired by the procession celebrating the town’s patron saint St. James, does not replicate the Catanian town's procession, but mixes those of Trapani, Caltanissetta, Ferla and other towns of the island. This was a choice of the director, who wanted to mix evocations and memories of his childhood with the age-old traditions of the island.
One location of natural beauty that we see in a number of scenes in the film is the picturesque Lake of Santa Rosalia, an artificial lake created in a quarry nestled in the Hyblaean Mountains in Ragusa, the jagged shores of which are surrounded by woods.
We also see the two protagonists contemplating the mosaics of Villa Romana del Casale, a building from late antiquity and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located just a few kilometres from Piazza Armerina in the Province of Enna. One scene in the film gives us a close-up shot of the “Bikini Girls”, a mosaic depicting ten young women engaging in athletics.
The film was written to be set in Sicily: indeed, most of the scenes were filmed in the areas surrounding Ragusa and Catania. The slopes of Mount Etna, white with snow and black with lava, provide the backdrop framing the opening sequences, which follow shortly after the conclusion of a mysterious funeral.
Anna lives alone in the Sicilian countryside, rugged and beautiful, with the fog that periodically rises off the slopes of Etna (we can see the Silvestri Mountains here) and stops us from seeing any further, in a timeless villa: Villa Fegotto, an ancient estate in the Chiaramonte Gulfi countryside in the area surrounding Ragusa.
Caltagirone, with its alleyways, is the focal point of the film: a Baroque town and UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its ceramics, it was reconstructed in the 1700s after the earthquake of 1693. It nonetheless shows clear traces of the people who have settled there over the centuries, including the Romans, Byzantines, Saracens, Normans and Angevins, who used its strategic position, overlooking the plains of Gela and Catania, to their advantage, leaving behind a mix of styles and cultures.
The opening sequence of the film, the night-time Easter procession of hooded figures walking down the town’s monumental steps, which was inspired by the procession celebrating the town’s patron saint St. James, does not replicate the Catanian town's procession, but mixes those of Trapani, Caltanissetta, Ferla and other towns of the island. This was a choice of the director, who wanted to mix evocations and memories of his childhood with the age-old traditions of the island.
One location of natural beauty that we see in a number of scenes in the film is the picturesque Lake of Santa Rosalia, an artificial lake created in a quarry nestled in the Hyblaean Mountains in Ragusa, the jagged shores of which are surrounded by woods.
We also see the two protagonists contemplating the mosaics of Villa Romana del Casale, a building from late antiquity and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located just a few kilometres from Piazza Armerina in the Province of Enna. One scene in the film gives us a close-up shot of the “Bikini Girls”, a mosaic depicting ten young women engaging in athletics.
Food and wine: In the middle of the film, Anna and Jeanne are at dinner with some new friends of our young host. Anna prepares tagliatelle with carob flour, a traditional dish from Hyblaean cuisine. The table also features salad made with oranges and fried sardines.
Indigo Film, Barbary Films, Pathè
The story of Anna who, in pieces after the sudden death of her son Giuseppe and unable to accept it, hides the truth from Jeanne, Giuseppe’s girlfriend. The wait for the boy’s return, scheduled for Easter Sunday, takes the form of a liturgy. The film was presented in competition at the 72nd Venice Film Festival.
