Fifth session of the Miguel Gomes film series—Complete Retrospective and Carta Branca—which explores the dialogue between the director’s filmography and his universe of cinematic influences. The session will feature a screening of Valerio Zurlini’s "Violent Summer” (1959).

ESTATE VIOLENTA | VIOLENT SUMMER

Valerio Zurlini | ITA | 1959 | 98'

Valerio Zurlini is widely recognized today as a great filmmaker, both in Italy and abroad. “Violent Summer” is the film that catapulted his career. A film in which the characters struggle to stay afloat in a time of destruction, where unspoken words and almost imperceptible gestures are more powerful than explicit statements, and where intimate and unexpected feelings struggle in vain against the crushing weight of history. Zurlini’s cinema is extraordinarily delicate and, at the same time, violent, which is reflected in the actors’ powerful performances. Summer of 1943. The son of a high-ranking fascist is on vacation in the seaside town of Riccione when he falls in love with the widow of a war hero, in her thirties. In the chaotic days following Mussolini’s fall, they begin a passionate relationship. They attempt to flee by train to the Veneto region, but the tracks are destroyed in an air raid. The young man, who until then had avoided mandatory military service, hears the call of duty and decides to enlist in the army and face his fate.