Arianna

Arianna, a 2015 Italian drama film directed by Carlo Lavagna, serves as a profound exploration of identity, family, and sexuality. The plot centers on the protagonist, Arianna, portrayed exquisitely by Ondina Quadri, whose life becomes a journey to self-discovery.

The narrative begins with 19-year-old Arianna returning with her family to their old lakeside retreat. To her, this place is filled with blurred childhood memories and unanswered questions which she spent her entire adolescence trying to unravel. This is a homecoming marked not by joy, but by a sense of unfamiliarity.

Arianna's childhood was not exactly typical. Having undergone three gender reassignment surgeries before her third birthday, she had grown up living as a girl. However, as she starts to find herself attracted to her female cousin, she begins to question her identity and even her body as she's never gone through menstruation or felt sexual desire.

Massimo Popolizio and Valentina Carnelutti play the roles of Arianna's well-meaning but deceptive parents who are initially unable to confront the truth themselves. Both Popolizio and Carnelutti offer stellar performances, captivating the audience with their portrayal of the helpless desperation and guilt arising from the decisions they made for their child.

Arianna is outstandingly played by Quadri, whose exceptional performance strikes a balance between fragility and calm determination, accurately mirroring the tumultuous journey her character embarks upon. Quadri’s performance is so natural and raw that one can’t help but empathize with Arianna, feeling her despair, confusion, and subtle courage.

Lavagna's debut feature film dives deeper into the ambiguity surrounding gender identity issues by examining Arianna's relationship with her own body, her family, and with nature itself. The film beautifully tackles the theme of burgeoning sexuality, using Arianna's journey to explore the fluidity of gender and the destructive consequences of societal impositions on the same.

The film's narrative is marked by an incisive commentary on the invasiveness of societal norms and how they can dismantle an individual's understanding of self. It paints an intimate coming-of-age tale where adolescent struggles are intertwined with complex gender issues. The key to the film's effectiveness lies in its subtlety, as it softly depicts a brutality masked by good intentions.

The cinematography of the film also deserves a special mention. The lakeside scenes, full of lush greenery and sunlit clear water, elicit a sentiment of rebirth, alluding to Arianna's journey towards self-discovery. The serene landscape serves as a stark contrast to Arianna's internal turmoil, proving to be an important character in itself.

Meanwhile, the soundtrack composed by Pierre Takal pins down the film’s mood elegantly. The music doesn’t overpower the narrative but weaves itself seamlessly into it, perfectly establishing the ambience of every scene.

Arianna explores the complexity of sexuality in a delicate yet powerful manner. It forces the audience to reflect on sociocultural norms about gender and how they can influence one's understanding of their own identity. The film breaks away from traditional narratives associated with transgender stories and provides a heart-wrenching account of a woman stuck between her past and her present.

Carlo Lavagna's Arianna is a thought-provoking examination of gender and identity crisis. Through Quadri's extraordinary performance and Lavagna's expert direction, the film succeeds in telling a remarkable and sensitive story that reminds us all of the importance of understanding, acceptance, and the courage it takes to pave one's own path. It's a film that engages the viewer on a deeply personal level, urging them to question the constructs that society tries to impose upon them.

One of Arianna's strongest points is its universality. While it deals with specific and complex issues tied to intersexuality, the themes of identity, societal pressure, secrecy, and self-discovery are things that most, if not all, viewers can relate to. Thus, Arianna is not just a film about the struggles and triumphs of an intersex individual, but a universal exploration of selfhood, acceptance, and the audacity to be true to oneself.