Idda

Standing tall on the east coast of Italy, Mount Etna — which has already erupted twice this year — is a reminder that below the Earth’s surface is a constant state of violent activity. The volcano serves as an almost too easy metaphor in Idda, the latest project from filmmaker Irene Dionisio. A friendship haunted by regret drives this drama which can’t quite plumb into the fiery depths of its story.

Best friends Adele (Tecla Insolia) and Sofia (Romana Maggiora Vergano) are as close as they are polar opposites. The more pensive and reserved Adele is nearly cast in a shadow by Sofia who is all extroverted spontaneity. So it’s not a surprise that after her return to town, while out one evening with Adele, she strikes up a friendship and flirtation with sound recordist Florian (Mati Galey). But he’s just a temporary dalliance on the way to a bigger endeavor: the besties are making a trek up to Mount Etna. Leaving Catania by train before hoofing it on foot, the more time they spent together, the more underlying tensions and resentments — one might liken them to lava — bubble underneath. The appearance of Salvatore (Giuseppe De Domenico), who seems to have had a past dalliance with Adele and helps the duo navigate the mountain, only intensifies the unease until, well, it erupts.

Following Blue Heron, Idda seems to be the next step in post-Aftersun cinema that relies heavily on memory as documented through photographs and video to weave its way through the narrative. Idda opens with Adele, a photographer, looking at negatives rescued from a flooded basement. As she holds the frames up to the light, the film transports the viewer into the past. Indeed, the aforementioned journey to Mount Etna is a long recollection in which Adele tries to come to some kind of closure for the choices she made — and the ones she didn’t.

Even as the performances by Insolia and Vergano are solid, expressing the close, flinty, loyalty you can only have with your ride or die, the gauzy script by Dionisio and Marco Borromei is wanting. The filmmaker cuts frequently to moody shots of trees or intentionally blown out close-ups of volcanoes to patch together the spaces of a film that, even at ninety minutes, feels like its stretching out. Perhaps this is also because either the story or the edit (or both) toys with how much to share about Adele and Sofia, and how much to leave the viewer to assemble. As it becomes obvious we’re watching an event that has (mostly) already happened through Adele’s viewfinder, it starts to become trying as the film continues to attempt leading the audience on. As the narrative flits between timelines, it begins to feel more like obfuscation than narrative necessity, pushing the lead characters out of reach.

Early in their trip, Adele and Sofia pass through the annual Festival of Saint Agatha, a rather lively della luminaria featuring fireworks, a concert, and food stalls selling Italian street food. Saint Agatha, a martyr for her virginal devotion to Christ that saw her imprisoned, might be surprised by the celebration undertaken in her name. In some way, the friends are martyrs for each other, bound by an allegiance that powers through a relationship past the point of reckoning to an inevitable combustion. The shattering aftermath is what Idda mines to mixed success, asking us to mourn the union of two people that we never really get to know in the first place.

Director: Irene Dionisio
Screenplay: Irene Dionisio, Marco Borromei
Cast: Tecla Insolia, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Giuseppe De Domenico
Producers: Giovanni Pompili
Cinematography: Gergely Poharnok
Production design: Rachele Meliado
Costume design: Andrea Cavalletto
Editing: Aline Herve
Music: Matteo Marini, Gabriele Concas, Peter Miyakawa
Sound: Riccardo Alfano
Production companies: Kino Produzioni (Italy), Rai Cinema (Italy), Andromeda Film (Italy), EDI – Effetti Digitali italiani (Italy), Wise Pictures (Italy)
World sales: Rai Cinema International Distribution
Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Platform)
In Italian
93 minutes