DIRECTOR | MARCO AMENTA
STARRING | VERONICA D’AGOSTINO, GERARD JUGNOT
STUDIO | MUSIC BOX FILMS
RELEASE | 11.30.10
The Sicilian Girl isn’t your typical Italian mafia thriller. It’s a coming-of-age story with a body count.
The (true) story follows Rita (Veronica D’Agostino), a 17-year-old girl from a mafia-plagued Sicilian village who is hell-bent on avenging her father’s death. In a move still rare in Italy today, Rita breaks the code of silence, revealing her town’s extensive criminal activities in court.
With the foreboding first half, the film sets itself up as a historical thriller. Most of the cards are out on the table for viewers, and the focus changes to Rita’s struggles coming to terms with her own denial. D’Agostino plays it just right, making Rita into something more than a cookie-cutter martyr. Rita can be downright obnoxious at times, but her actions are believable.
The events in The Sicilian Girl may be true, but it works in the film’s favor that American audiences aren’t familiar enough with them to predict the twists. And while the story may not have a slick Hollywood ending, it gives you a bitter pill to swallow that’ll linger in your stomach as the credits roll.
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