Dark Love

Set in contemporary Naples, Dark Love focuses on the consequences of the brutal rape of a young woman by three teenage boys. Ciro is the only boy who shows remorse (he confesses his role, leading to recriminations from his fellow assailants), and part of the film is devoted to his experiences in an offshore juvenile prison. Simultaneously, the film follows the faltering efforts of the victim, Irene, to put her life back together, continue studying for university, and behave with some semblance of normality with her boyfriend and family. However, Ciro starts writing letters from prison to Irene, who eventually begins to read them. The two stories have a marked difference in tone. Ciro’s experiences are unsurprisingly gritty and occasionally violent, while Irene, in a much more meditative depiction, is shown going about everyday life while still disturbed and alienated by what she has been through. The interweaving of the two stories is skillfully handled, the use of Naples as a setting is evocative, and the performances from the young protagonists are little short of astonishing. Director Antonio Capuano has created an understated, challenging and meditative film which avoids either cheap moralising or simplistic resolution. —BFI