Set in 19th century Sicily, Sea Purple, which is based on a true
story, asks that question of its protagonist Angela (Valeria
Solario - the dark-haired woman in the picture).
Growing up on an extremely rocky bit of coastline, Angela falls
for her best friend (following in the grand tradition of lesbians
in many countless films before her, but hey, that's ok) and, all
credit to her, pursues her. When her father finds out she's in love
with Sara he's not best pleased, but, to her credit,
Angela's mum comes up with a solution involving a new, short
haircut and Angela changing her name to Angelo.
The result is, I think, a film that's a cross between Jane
Campion's magnificent The Piano and Nicole Conn's Cynara: Poetry In
Motion (Conn fans can currently buy a box set of her films at
divadirect, incidentally), though I recognise that for those of
you who have seen neither that description is of limited use. For
the most part Sea Purple is slow and scenic in a bleached-out,
desolate kind of a way, with dramatic music and lots of long
dresses and even longer hair being blown around in the wind. As in
The Piano, there is air of remoteness, wistfulness and (less
pleasantly) strong undertones of violence. If that sounds
appealing, Sea Purple is worth a look. The acting's great (the lead
actresses are very well-known in Italy), the sexual tension is
convincing and.. well, you'll have to watch to find out how it
ends.
Thanks to the good people of Peccadillo Pictures, we have five
copies of the DVD to give away. Follow the link below to enter the
competition.
Enter the
competition
