Vermiglio

2024 1h 59m IT

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 341

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In the last days of the Second World War, a deserting soldier disrupts a tranquil and isolated mountain community. For one family, his arrival brings excitement and romance, but tragedy lies in wait.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Tommaso Ragno
Cesare
Giuseppe De Domenico
Pietro
Roberta Rovelli
Adele
Martina Scrinzi
Lucia
Orietta Notari
Zia Cesira
Carlotta Gamba
Virginia
Santiago Fondevila
Attilio
Sara Serraiocco
Anna Pennisi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Maura Delpero
Writers: Maura Delpero
Languages: Italian, Latin
Countries: Italy, France, Belgium

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 95% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 2 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Italian, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Italy, France, Belgium.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Maura Delpero, shot by Mikhail Krichman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Gianluca Mattei shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tommaso Ragno and Giuseppe De Domenico and Roberta Rovelli carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Maura Delpero directs. Mikhail Krichman behind the camera. Gianluca Mattei cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Italy, France, Belgium. Dialogue in Italian, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 95% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 2 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Italian, Latin.
5International production across 3 countries: Italy, France, Belgium.
6Directed by Maura Delpero, shot by Mikhail Krichman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Editor Gianluca Mattei shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Tommaso Ragno and Giuseppe De Domenico and Roberta Rovelli carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt28618488 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Mikhail Krichman
Editing: Gianluca Mattei
Production design: Vito Giuseppe Zito
Makeup / hair: Frédérique Foglia
Sound: Emmanuel de Boissieu
Runtime: 119 min · 1h 59m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,600,000
Box office: $4,380,000
Return: 95% of budget
Original language: IT
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Vermiglio (2024)

Also by

Maura Delpero

Stills · wallpapers

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Brent Marchant2025-01-05
★ 4/10
Just as too many cooks can ruin the stew, too many story threads can ruin a movie, and that’s very much the case with writer-director Maura Delpero’s fourth feature film. This Golden Globe nominee for Best International Film follows the lives of a family in a village in the Italian Alps in 1944. The family patriarch and town schoolteacher, Cesare (Tommaso Regno), along with his wife and army of eight children shelter a pair of Italian army deserters, hiding them from Axis Forces in search of the runaways. While in seclusion, one of the soldiers, Pietro (Giuseppe Di Domenico), falls in love with Cesare’s eldest daughter, Lucia (Martina Scrinzi), eventually marrying her and fathering a child. However, when the war ends and Pietro travels to Sicily to visit his family, all hell breaks loose, revealing a deep dark secret and creating havoc for his pregnant wife and her family. Had the film stuck to this storyline, “Vermiglio” might have been an engaging watch. But that, unfortunately, is not the case. The picture incorporates an array of other plot lines, seriously diluting the narrative and making for a very unfocused, incoherent watch (particularly in the first hour). Most of these extraneous story arcs remain largely underdeveloped, and much of what could have been done with the principal narrative thrust remains largely unexplored. To make matters worse, the picture’s glacial pacing at the outset tries viewer patience to the point where checking one’s watch becomes a regular activity. Only when the script settles on its primary tangent does the film begin to become remotely watchable, but, by that point (nearly an hour in), it’s too late to salvage the viability of the production, especially since viewer interest in any of these characters has long since evaporated. It’s a shame that the filmmakers chose to employ this approach in telling this story, because, if it had been judiciously pared down to the basics that work best, this could have been a beautiful, compelling release. Instead, we’re left with a mishmash of ideas, themes and narrative elements that leaves audiences clamoring for an end that’s far too long in coming.
CinemaSerf2025-01-22
★ 7/10
With the war now heading firmly in the favour of the allies, Italian soldiers are deserting in droves and one of them, Sicilian "Pietro" (Giuseppe De Domenico) arrives, wounded, in the eponymous Italian village where they know what he has done. Opinion is divided on what to do next, given many have lost their sons in the war or are still ignorant of their whereabouts, but he has the support of the influential schoolmaster "Graziadei" (Tommaso Ragno). It's his daughter "Lucia" (Martina Scrinzi) to whom he takes a bit of a shine, and she readily reciprocates. They marry and all seems rosy until the war actually ends and he has to return home to his mother. This is when the wheel rather comes off this idyllic scenario as his unanswered letters are eventually explained by answers that rock this tiny village and the whole "Graziadei" family. Though the thrust of the story is all rather predictable, the characterisations are poignant, powerful and are cleverly crafted to show us a family dynamic that is not only dealing with the end of the war, but with disease, tragedy, resentment and bitterness amongst eight children who are growing into people in their own right with differing aspirations for education, religion, family and future. Roberta Rovelli features a little less than I'd have liked as the mother of this diverse brood but her nuanced and considered effort as the potato-counting antitheses to her proud and traditionalist husband works well at providing a bedrock for the story. I also quite enjoyed the efforts of the younger children, too. Their curiosity and vibrancy offering us quite an apt tonic to counteract some of the more serious elements as the storyline touches upon issues of betrayal, shame and grief. It's gloriously photographed at altitude and the changing seasons reflect well the blossoming of a family that is certainly not the "Waltons". Don't expect it to hit the ground running, nor for there to be any definitive conclusion. This is us observing a year or so in the turbulent lives of a family, a village and a nation and if you just let it wash over you then it's surprisingly affecting.
badelf2026-06-28
★ 9/10
Summary: 9/10: a visually stunning, thematically rich meditation on family, power, tradition, and the slow work of change, anchored in historical specificity while speaking to timeless questions about who holds power and at what cost. What appears to be a slice-of-life film based on Maura Delpero's experiences growing up in the Italian Alps reveals itself as something far more complex: a richly layered drama of family life and relationships set at the end of World War II. Delpero herself wasn't even born yet when these events transpired, which means we must assume that life in a remote Alpine village has not changed much in seventy years, that the rhythms and structures she witnessed growing up were largely unchanged from those her grandmother knew. Her visual capture is remarkable in that it has the appearance and feel of a documentary. Even the unevenness of the editing and cinematography appears intentional, designed to yield the impression of a late 1940s capture, as if we're watching footage unearthed from the period itself. The natural light cinematography, the handheld moments, the patient observation of daily routines all contribute to a neorealist aesthetic that feels both contemporary and historically grounded. The film's numerous awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, are well-deserved. But the true depth of Vermiglio lies in its examination of patriarchal structures and the fissures already forming within them. In that time and place, men make decisions, daughters are expected to obey, and traditional roles remain largely unquestioned. Cesare, the head of the household, a teacher and highly educated man, is clearly conflicted between his role as patriarch and his more liberal values. He's educated enough to understand equality, progressive enough to question tradition, yet trapped within a system he perpetuates even as he doubts it. It's a nuanced portrait of complicity, of how intelligent people can recognize injustice and still enforce it because that's what the structure demands. Ada, played beautifully by Rachele Potrich, emerges as almost a feminist rebel within this constrained world. She refuses to accept limitations quietly, pushes against expectations, embodies the future struggling to be born. Delpero doesn't make her a modern anachronism; Ada's rebellion, and that of her role model, Virginia, is of her moment, plausible within the world as it exists, but pointing toward possibilities not yet realized. The film operates with patience and restraint, trusting the audience to notice what's unspoken, to feel the weight of traditions that no longer serve the living. It's a portrait of a world suspended between eras, between the patriarchal past and the stirrings of a new future, and Delpero captures that transitional moment with extraordinary grace.