In the underground of Calabria

Italian-American director Jonas Carpignano has been creating a series of films set in the small Calabrian town of Gioia Tauro and featuring non-professional actors from local families. Mediterranea (2015), the focus was on the harsh survival of African refugees. Gypsies of Ciambra (2017) dealt with the relationship between natives and the gypsy community (Read my review here.Produced in 2021, To Chiara It focuses on a seemingly happy family, but one that suddenly reveals its hidden true nature to the eyes of its middle daughter, 15-year-old Chiara.

At the end of her older sister's 18th birthday party, Chiara sees her father arguing with relatives and then fleeing the house while his car is blown up outside. When she questions him, everyone replies that she's too young to understand, that it's better she doesn't know anything. Carpignano embraces Chiara's anxiety about becoming an adult to create a film that progressively moves towards becoming a crime thriller. Chiara discovers not only that her father belonged to the 'Ndrangheta mafia, but also that a parallel universe was hidden in the city's underground and surrounding areas. 

The metaphor is perhaps somewhat clear Furthermore, the loss of innocence consists of discovering that there is a world invisible to the eyes of the innocent. As she investigates her father's whereabouts, Chiara creates her own adventure on the fringes of her family and must make drastic choices regarding her future.
This then reveals a draconian system within the Italian justice system (I don't know to what extent it's true) designed to keep young people away from the risks associated with families involved in crime. The epilogue of To Chiara It is somewhat unsatisfactory to deal with the girl's fate when she turns 18.
With documentary-style photography and a camera almost always glued to the expressions of astonishment and stubbornness of Swamy Rotolo in the title role (David di Donatello Award for Best Actress), the film relies primarily on the vital bond between the various members of the Rotolo family, each in their own kinship circle. Other families are included in the cast, among them the Amato family, who dominated Gypsies of CiambraThis creates a very engaging naturalism, especially in the first act. This process is somewhat similar to that used in some films by the Minas Gerais-based production company Filmes de Plástico. It's fiction feeding on the sap that comes from reality.

>> Chiara is on the Mubi platform.      

The trailer: