Le meraviglie

Le meraviglie (The Wonders in the english version) is a 2014 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Alice Rohrwacher. It was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival; it won the Grand Prix. Rohrwacher’s richly textured sophomore feature centers on a family of beekeepers living in stark isolation in central Italy. The dynamic of their overcrowded household is disrupted by the simultaneous arrival of a silently troubled teenaged boy taken in as a farmhand, and a production crew recruiting local farmers to participate in a cheesy televised celebration of ancient Etruscan culture presented by the mysterious Milly Catena (Monica Bellucci). Both intrusions are of particular interest to the eldest daughter, Gelsomina, who is struggling to find her footing in the world, and Rohrwacher manages to convey her adolescent sense of wonder and confusion with characteristically graceful naturalism. Director Alice Rohrwacher based the movie on her memories of her childhood working for her parents, who were beekeepers. Rohrwacher stated that some parts of the film were filmed illegally, particularly the parts with the bees which they were not supposed to film for insurance purposes and which she filmed anyway on a national holiday when no one was around to stop her.

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