Archive of films Misunderstood / Incompresa

Italy / France
2014, 103 min

Section: Horizons
Year: 2014

Young Aria must come to terms with her successful and selfish parents’ breakup. Neither is willing to provide a home for her, and so Aria is constantly shuttling back and forth between the two carrying a bag and a black cat in a cage. Asia Argento has several times exchanged acting for directing, and her movie, inspired in part by her own experiences, was presented this year in Cannes’ Un certain regard section.

Synopsis

Nine-year-old Aria is finding it hard to come to terms with her parents’ stormy breakup. Both are successful and famous, and both find their daughter equally inconvenient. While her two stepsisters use conformity as conciliation – one focusing on their father, the other on their mother – Aria isn’t welcome to live with either of her separated parents, and she continually shuttles back and forth carrying her bag and her black cat. In a story set in the 1980s, well-known actress and (since 2000) director Asia Argento explores the topsy-turvy life of a girl who, despite all her difficulties, holds on to her innocence. And although the director doesn’t deny that she drew in part on her own experiences, she refutes the idea that the work is autobiographical. She offers, "Who, during their childhood, never had the feeling of being misunderstood in the eyes of others, starting with one’s own parents?” Screened in Un certain regard at Cannes, the film attracted attention for its expressive style and Giulia Salerno’s performance as the young heroine.

About the director

Asia Argento (b. 1975, Rome) is the daughter of well-known horror director Dario Argento and actress Daria Nicolodi. Thanks to her family background, she began acting as a child, appearing in almost 60 movies of various genres (with her father casting her several times). For her first adult role, in the comedy Let’s Not Keep in Touch (Perdiamoci di vista!, 1994), she was awarded a David di Donatello for Best Actress, as she was for her performance in the drama Traveling Companions (Compagna di viaggio, 1996). She has also stood behind the camera: in addition to several shorts, she directed a documentary on director Abel Ferrara entitled Abel/Asia (1998); the story of an actress, Scarlet Diva (2000); and a drama about a junkie mother who abuses her child, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004), in which she starred. She has written a number of stories and the book I Love You, Kirk (1999).

Contacts

Other Angle Pictures
52, rue de Ponthieu, 75008, Paris
France
Tel: +33 983 375 344
Fax: +33 959 880 241
E-mail: [email protected]

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About the film

Color, DCP

Section:	Horizons

Director:	Asia Argento
Screenplay:	Asia Argento, Barbara Alberti
Dir. of Photography:	Nicola Pecorini
Music:	Echo Danon
Editor:	Filippo Barbieri
Producer:	Lorenzo Mieli, Mario Gianani, Eric Heumann, Maurice Kantor
Production:	Wildside Srl, Paradis Films
Coproduction:	Orange Studio
Cast:	Charlotte Gainsbourg, Giulia Salerno, Gabriel Garko
Contact:	Other Angle Pictures

Guests

Asia Argento

Film Director

Nathan Fischer

Sales Agent