Alice Rohrwacher : 2014
The Wonders
Gelsomina, at twelve years of age, is head of the family and her three younger sisters must obey her and work under her watchful eye. Whilst all around them the Umbrian countryside is being burnt up by pesticides and rural life is falling apart and becoming something different, a TV competition arrives from the city offering prize money for the most "traditional" family. Gelsomina wants to participate, but her father Wolfgang won't even consider it. The new European laws regarding farm produce mean they will have to work very hard to expand their bee colonies and get the honey lab up to standard. In his desperate search for cheap labour, Wolfgang takes on Martin who comes from a youth rehabilitation programme run by the German government. The tension mounts between a silent evasive boy on to whom Wolfgang projects his desire for a son, and, counteracting this, the outward-reaching force of Gelsomina. A small but cruel love story between a father and daughter, their torments, jealousy and shyness. They give abundantly, and betray each other painfully. It tells of the ties that bind one family together, and a land undergoing a profound transformation. Alice Rohrwacher's second feature was awarded the Grand Prix when it premiered at Festival de Cannes 2014.
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