Nasty Love

Synopsis

Amalia, a woman about 60 years old, separated from her impoverished husband who makes a living painting seascapes and gypsies for the market-stalls in the outskirts of Naples, is discovered dead in the sea, wearing only a bra of an expensive designer brand, too elegant for her meagre finances to permit. Her daughter, Delia, who moved away to Rome a long time before, comes back to Naples and starts investigating. She tries to reconstruct the last moments of her mother's life, looking back at the existence tormented by her husband's jealousy and encountering ambiguous and taciturn men who live in a violent world of power abused: Amalia's presumed lover and his son, Delia's childhood playmate; her uncle Filippo; and finally her father, living alone in their old house in the suburbs. Gradually Delia, who as a child had unjustly accused her mother of having an extra-marital affair, identifies herself more and more with her mother in a sort of delirium of penitence, and she begins to investigate about herself, her memories, her own and her mother's body, and that male tribe left unchanged in time, unlike the building- site city transformed by traffic and urband devastation, cold and rainy-grey, so different from her childhood memories. Delia goes back to Rome with the questions about her mother's death still unresolved. She has discovered hidden truths within herself which certainly do not console her, but they give her back a sense of belonging to a world which she does not want to, and indeed cannot reject anymore, as well as a body full of energy although touched by suffering.

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About the director(s):
Mario Martone (*November 20, 1959, in Naples) is an Italian film and theatre director, as well as a screenwriter. At just 18 years old, he founded the theatre group "Nobili di Rosa," which later became "Falso Movimento," with which he directed numerous productions. In 1980, Martone began experimenting with video art, and in 1984, he presented his first short film, "Nella città barocca". His feature film debut, "Morte di un matematico napoletano", about mathematician Renato Caccioppoli, established him as one of the most important directors of his generation. Martone continued his success with "L’amore molesto" (1995), which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and won a David di Donatello. His film "Teatro di guerra" (1998) was also shown in Cannes. In addition to feature films, Martone worked on documentary projects, theatre productions, and published books. From 1999 to 2001, he served as director of Teatro Argentina in Rome. His notable works also include the adaptation of the novel "L’odore di sangue" (2004) and the critically acclaimed "Die Fahne der Freiheit" (2010), which won multiple awards. Martone’s films have received a total of 18 accolades. In 2014, he directed "Aureliano in Palmira" at the Rossini Opera Festival, which won the International Opera Award. In 2022, he was invited back to the Cannes Film Festival competition with his drama "Nostalgia".

Mario Martone

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