The Girl by the Lake

Colour, 35 mm
Italy, 2007, 95 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

Police inspector Giovanni Sanzio begins his day in a small mountain town where little Marta has gotten lost on her way to school. The girl is soon found, but the policeman comes across a far worse case that starts with the discovery of a naked corpse on the shore of the nearby lake. Who among the neighbours could want the lovely Anna dead? The suspects include not only a simpleton named Mario but also the girl’s father Davide… The story gradually uncovers the hidden bonds uniting the residents of the outwardly idyllic town burdened by a painful past. The aging policeman nearing the end of his career also has his own problems to work out, with his wife suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and ceasing to recognise him… The atmospheric setting of the Italian Dolomites lends Norwegian writer Karin Fossum’s novel an eerie, almost Dürrenmattesque moral dimension. This exceptional detective story about the elusiveness of truth and the courage to embrace a future over which we have no influence won the Isvema Award at the Venice IFF for debuting director Andrea Molaioli, along with the Pasinetti Award for lead actor Toni Servillo. The film also took away 11 David di Donatello awards in 2007.

About the director

Andrea Molaioli (b. 1967, Rome) has worked primarily with Nanni Moretti as assistant director and 2nd unit director on the films Red Wood Pigeon (Palombella rossa, 1989), Dear Diary (Caro diario, 1993), April (Aprile, 1998) and The Son’s Room (La stanza del figlio, 2001). He was also involved in the films David’s Summer (L’estate di Davide, 1998, dir. Carlo Mazzacurati), Father and Son (Padre e figlio, 1994, dir. Pasquale Pozzessere) and Suffocating Heat (Caldo soffocante, 1991, dir. Giovanna Gagliardo). His directorial filmography includes the segment Bandiera rossa e borsa nera from the successful television series I diari della Sacher (2001).