Tropic Sprockets / Amanda

By Ian Brockway

Director Carolina Cavalli has an eerily opaque debut in “Amanda.” The film is an odd and unusual coming of age story of dysfunction, isolation, and entitlement. It requires patience and active viewing and is not for thrill seekers, yet it is curiously compelling and will keep you watching.

Amanda (Benedetta Porcaroli) is a self-centered twenty-something who deliberately isolates herself from others.

She goes to the movies and stares at men across from her. She is often alone at hotels and cafes.

She spends her days wandering about Italy. She is drawn to horses.

Aside from a horse, the only other adult Amanda is close to is Judy (Ana Cecilia Ponce), a housekeeper who once saved her from an attempted drowning.

Amanda wants nothing to do with her family pharmaceutical business, so she agrees to stay with her childhood friend Rebecca (Galatéa Bellugi) and the two share a quirky bond. When Amanda tires of Rebecca, there is a dark and brooding young man who resembles a young Antonin Artaud with gaunt features (Michele Bravi) who tells Amanda to stop texting him, as well as Amanda’s toddler niece who is obsessed with Jesus.

Quirk is in force here. In tone, the film is a bit like “Amelie” mixed with “The Graduate.” We may not know much about Amanda but there is enough revealed to know that Amanda’s feelings are a serious matter. Amanda does not emote in verbal abundance but the sight of her in empty hotel and cafe hallways describe all one needs to know.

The mercurial Rebecca is the balance that Amanda needs. Amanda’s mom is monotone and spaced out. She dances as if she is a phantom filled with the easy listening sounds of the 1980s, notably Juice Newton.

Amanda craves freedom and movement. She is in rebellion against the mellow status quo that disengages her family.

Write Ian at [email protected]

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