QUICK’N DIRTY: LIVE FROM VENICE

The story takes place in Switzerland. Beautiful and intense Elisa (Barbara Ronchi), with a sharp gaze and a deceptively sulky expression permanently printed on her face, grew up in the Italian-speaking canton of the Alpine nation. She was part of a seemingly stable family of five, also consisting of her adoring father (Diego Ribon), her wary mother, her arrogant brother Franck and her absent yet kind sister Katia. The 35-year-old woman has been in a mental institution in the French-speaking part of the country (presumably in a neighbouring canton) for a decade. Ten years earlier, she horrifically murdered her sister.

The story opens with avuncular criminologist Alaoui (Roschdy Zem) at a university lecture. He uses the black-and-white photograph of white Americans laughing at the lynching of two black men in the 1930s in order to illustrate the “senselessness” of evil. He explains that those who carry out the most shocking crimes are often guided by their very own sense of justice, and therefore convinced that they are doing the right thing (from their very twisted moral perspective). He also explains that this does not equate to complacency. Instead, he believes that it is necessary to get into the humanity of the crime perpetrators in order to understand their motivations, and to come to terms with the crimes. He conducts research with people convicted of very serious crimes in order to establish how this can be achieved.

And so Alaoui meets with Elisa, possibly his best case study. She claims that she cannot remember the events that led to the intentional and fatal drugging and burning of her sister, and the near-murder of her own mother by very similar means. The fact that the family business was failing, and most family members thought that the blame lay with her suggests that this crime was highly premeditated, something Elisa consistently denies. She does confess, however, that she found her sister’s kindness and the idea that she could be guilty for financial collapse of her closest relatives unbearable.

The crime of sororicide isn’t a vastly recurring one in film. Normally, it is sorority instead that prevails. Elisa seems to have traces of psychopathic behaviour. She barely talks about her sister, and only rarely expresses remorse for her actions. Yet she is not entirely empty and dispassionate. Genuine emotions towards other human beings dwell inside of her. She is very fond of her father – the only member of the family with whom she is still in touch. The sad old man regularly visits her in the institution, bringing his daighter presents in the hope to instil some “serenity” into her troubled soul. Elisa is now eligible for parole, in a semi-open regime, yet she remains largely indifferent to the prospect of (partial) freedom.

The most intense and decisive moments in the film are the conversations between Elisa and Dr. Alaoui. He interrogates her real motives, and ensure that the woman is comfortable enough to open up. Gradually, the details begin to surface. Elisa too is curious about Dr Alaoui’s motivations, which he dismisses as an abrupt “interesting question”, before insisting that they focus instead on her mental wellbeing.

Allegedly inspired by a true story, and co-written by the director with two more pairs of hands (Bruno Oliviero and Valia Santella’s), Elisa is structured like a conventional character study. Ronchi’s powerful performance deserves praise. She successfully incorporates a seemingly normal woman with deep-seated traumas that occasionally show their ugly faces to catastrophic results. The film sets out to establish whether Elisa is intrinsically and hopelessly disordered, a cunning and manipulative person, or whether she suffers from some form of split personality disorder (which triggered the amnesia).

This is not an impeccable film. The script is too flat and uneventful, the pace is too slow, and the director denies the viewers the knowledge of some of the most significant developments. For example, the relationship between Elisa and her sister, and also her mum is barely portrayed, leaving viewers to guess the root cause of her feelings of rejection. The conversations with the psychiatrist are interesting, however the crimes and the motives are just too ambiguous, and Elisa’s psychology remains as dark as the night sky. This is an inner journey into the heart and the soul of one complex and mysterious woman. Sadly, that journey just keeps going around in circles.

Elisa just premiered in the Official Competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. An interesting watch for a rainy evening indoors. It may not keep you glued to your seat throughout.