FORTUNATA
Italy, 2017, 103 minutes, Colour.
Jasmine Trinca, Stefano Accorsi, Alessandro Borghi, Eduardo Pesce, Nicole Centanni, Hanna Schygulla.
Directed by Sergio Castellitto.
Fortunata is the dramatising of the life of a very emotional woman, a hard background, harsh memories of the death of her father and responsibilities, marriage to a violent man, divorce proceedings, bonding with her daughter but their being tensions, the experience of work with the therapist…
The film has been written by Margarita Mazantini who collaborated with her actor-director husband, Sergio Castillitto. They worked on several films together.
The film was nominated for many awards and actress, Jasmine Trinka, winning several for Best Actress. Her character is highly emotional and the performance dramatises the emotions, sometimes there are extremes. In support is StefanoAccorsi as a sympathetic therapist, Alessandro Borghi as a friend who is bipolar, Eduardo Pesce as her brutal husband, and German actress, memories of her work with Fassbender, Hanna chuygulla as a former actress with dementia.
The treatment is highly emotional, dramatic and melodramatic, but the central performance is certainly commanding and audiences can be swept up into the domestic drama, the behaviour of the brutal husband, menacing and violent, the possible escape with the therapist, at the core relationship of mother and daughter.
- Title, the irony of Fortunata and her name? The background, Her father, a failed marriage relationship with her daughter, therapist, ambitions, her emotions, careful Chicano? Custody issues?
- The Italian city, apartments, addresses, therapy offices, the aqueduct, countryside, the visits to Genoa? The musical score?
- Fortunata’s story, her age, the sequences with her husband, violent brutality, verbal violence and menace, physical violence? The divorce? Her relationship with Barbara, Barbara’s moods, school, dropping the bag, the exasperated mother? Barbara possessive? Fortunata and hair-dressers, the plans, with Chicano, with her friends? The work and preparations? Going to the therapist, observing Barbara? The bond with Patrizio, the outing with him, the travel, his story, the dancing, the sexual experience, the consequences of the relationship? Her husband, the accusations, Chicano and the death of his mother, meeting with the judge, the husband and the filming of his wife and her behaviour? Her losing her daughter?
- Barbara, her age, relationship with her mother, aggressive, yet dependent, going to the therapist, bonding with him, her drawings, the discussions, his drawing her out of herself? The suspicions of her mother with the therapist? Angry at her mother going away, going to the roof, hurting herself? Her father’s reaction? Going off with him? Finally alienation from her father, bonding again with her mother?
- Chicano, bipolar, drugs, looking after his mother, gentlemen, the past as an actress, quoting Antigone, his devotion to Fortunata, working with her, the encounter with the Patrizio, his plann for the withdrawal from drugs? The birthday party for his mother, blowing out the candles, her behaviour, her dementia? The walk with her, the memories,his exasperation at her not recognising him, the bridge, accusing him, his memories of the story of Fortunata letting her her father drown, the death of his mother – and the later finding of her body?
- Patrizio, therapist, the background in Africa, his reputation, his charm, with Fortunata, with Barbara, friendship, smiling, encouraging, the questions, drawing her out of herself, her bonding with hearing? The attraction to Fortunata, the outing with her, taking her to his town, night, the dancing, the room, sex, the return, the crisis on the return, Fortunata and his reaction to her, his trying to help? The final talk between them and her reaction?
- The culmination, the dramatising of her father’s death, her denial, visualising the water, a verbal description, her father in the water, going out to sea? The issue of blame, a highly emotional reaction to Chicano, wanting to see him, hysterics, her final catharsis with the memories of her father, joining again with Barbara at having a future?
