Vermiglio (15)

Winner of a raft of awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, this is a slow-burn family saga of immense subtlety and quiet observation. It's 1944 in Vermiglio, a remote Italian Alpine village where the war is a distant but still omnipresent threat. However, the unexpected arrival of a runaway soldier, Pietro, disrupts the dynamics of the local schoolmaster’s large family for ever. The love that develops between Pietro and the schoolmaster’s eldest daughter, Lucia, leads not only to their marriage but is also the catalyst for an unexpected and surprising destiny. The beauty of the Alpine environment is revealed to us in gorgeously muted cinematography that allows our eyes the space to roam. An unsentimental film of great beauty and restraint.