L’isola

Authentic fishermen’s drama that evokes the best days of Italian neorealism. The story is set on a remote island near the coast of Sicily that looks like a sunny holiday resort, but where life is harsh and frugal for the inhabitants. This family story focuses on the brother and sister Turi (14) and Teresa (10). The slight Turi is fully involved in maintaining the family, but the hard work of a fisherman is not easy for him. In addition, his life is not made any easier by a conflict with Leonardo, a boy of his own age who is strong and looks as if he was born for the life of fishermen. The greatest challenge is formed by the so-called mattanza, the ritual fishing for tuna. It is a rough and dangerous spectacle in which young fishermen have to prove they are men and ready for the task at hand. Teresa would also most love to be a fisherman and go to sea with the men, but that’s not how life works on this island. She has to work in a bar by the harbour. The story of Turi and Teresa is mixed with impressions of everyday life on the fishing island. It gives this petite and refined drama a strikingly documentary quality. (GjZ)