Sweetheart | Dir: Margherita Spampinato |★ ★ ★ ★
Italian writer, director and editor Margherita Spampinato’s debut feature film, Sweetheart, is an award-winning drama inspired by her childhood memories of being sent to Sicily every summer to stay with her two unmarried aunts.
Eleven-year-old Nico (Marco Fiore) must spend the summer holidays with his great-aunt Gela (Aurora Quattrocchi), who raised his father. She lives in an apartment complex that appears to be home to many older women caring for younger relatives.
Unlike his modern, technology-filled family life, Gela’s world seems frozen in time. Living in the house where she was born and raised, she has little interest in modern conveniences, and her home may even be haunted.
The house is filled with religious icons, and the elderly woman insists on traditions such as proper etiquette, afternoon naps, and household chores, including cooking and ironing.
This clash between old and new sensibilities is endearing, as both characters learn from one another while navigating the summer together. Nico must also find a way to connect with the other children in their close-knit neighbourhood.
The two protagonists share a common experience of loss. Nico is grieving the departure of his nanny, who is leaving his family home to move to Paris and get married, while Gela continues to carry the pain of a lost love affected by homophobic attitudes.
Rosa (Martina Ziami), the granddaughter of one of Gela’s friends, befriends Nico. Together they explore some of the run-down apartments in the building and uncover clues about its resident ghost.
Spampinato has said that Nico arrives in “a magical and superstitious world of women”. With Rosa’s help, he “manages to rationalise this world and understand what lies behind the symbols. So it is a hope that the new generations bring when they meet the old ones.”
Catch Sweetheart at the ST. ALI Italian Film Festival, which celebrates Italy’s language, stories and culture. The festival screens in Perth from 24 September to 18 October at Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Windsor Cinema.
Lezly Herbert
