A Chiara

Name: A Chiara
Genre: Drama
Released: May 27, 2022
Duration: 121 min
Rating: 75
Cast: Antonina Fumo, Antonio Rotolo Uno, Carmela Fumo, Carmelo Rotolo, Claudio Rotolo

2022

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Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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6.4

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6.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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A Chiara (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Neon | Release Date: May 27, 2022 | R

Starring: Antonina Fumo, Antonio Rotolo Uno, Carmela Fumo, Carmelo Rotolo, Claudio Rotolo, Concetta Grillo, Giacinto Fumo, Giorgia Rotolo, Grecia Rotolo, Rosa Caccamo, Salvatore Rotolo, Silvana Palumbo, Swamy Rotolo, Vincenzo Rotolo

Summary: Winner of the Cannes’ Directors' Fortnight Award and a rising voice of Italian cinema, filmmaker Jonas Carpignano continues his exploration of the intricacies of life in contemporary Calabria with this compelling character study of a teenager, Chiara, who gradually comes to discover that her close-knit family is not all that it seems. InWinner of the Cannes’ Directors' Fortnight Award and a rising voice of Italian cinema, filmmaker Jonas Carpignano continues his exploration of the intricacies of life in contemporary Calabria with this compelling character study of a teenager, Chiara, who gradually comes to discover that her close-knit family is not all that it seems. In this furiously paced drama, Chiara investigates her father’s disappearance just one day after her oldest sister’s birthday. As she gets closer to the difficult truth about her mysteriously missing father—and the crime syndicates that control her region— Chiara is forced to decide what kind of future she wants for herself. [Neon]… Expand

Director: Jonas Carpignano

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 121 min

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Critic Reviews

Robert Abele

May 26, 2022

What’s best about A Chiara is its totality of naturalism and subjectivity — how it humanely complicates a teenager’s newfound self-possession, so that we admire her quest for clarity and reckoning about her family, while worrying how it will affect the decision she makes about her future. Read full review

The Playlist Charles Bramesco

Jul 17, 2021

He’s not quite deconstructing the gangster picture, but he succeeds in draining all its allure. Read full review

Karen Gordon

Jun 2, 2022

The film’s tone and the story structure are both naturalistic, and realistic. Carpignano doesn’t force huge moments of upheaval in the film, or story points where characters have sudden shifts of personality to heighten the drama or bring the story to a dramatic conclusion. We’re experiencing what Chiara experiences, and again that documentary feel works to keep the story intimate. Read full review

Katie Walsh

May 26, 2022

Carpignano once again uses a tight, intimate character focus to take a wider look at larger political and cultural issues in this region. In the poetically, humanistically crafted A Chiara, he also manages to flip the Mafia movie on its head, and in doing so, challenges the mythology that keeps these shadowy systems in power. Read full review

Lee Marshall

Jul 17, 2021

There are times when the crunch of the gears can almost be heard as the director shifts up to this new expanded allegorical register, moments when we yearn for a little more depth in the film’s exposé of the inner workings of the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta, and scenes in which the freshness of the director’s improvisational work with actors doesn’t quite disguise a lack of character development. But the intensity of Swamy Rotolo’s central performance and the story’s fiery commitment to her character sweep most of these quibbles aside. Read full review

Leigh Monson

May 24, 2022

Though the path to its conclusions is at times more plodding than meditative, the finale is a subtle, emotional twist of the knife that makes the journey worth taking. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Simon Abrams

May 27, 2022

Carpignano’s impressionistic plot and pseudo-naturalistic style also tends to boil down human emotions so as to only suggest rather than reveal complexity. The limiting style and characterizations in A Chiara are only so thoughtful. Read full review

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User Reviews

bertobellamy

Aug 30, 2022

'A Chiara' channels "The Godfather" to introduce us to the dynamics of a family that lives off crime. Through the eyes of Chiara, brilliantly played by the young Swamy Rotolo, we witness inescapable assimilation, which reveals how criminal culture infiltrates newer generations.

While there'A Chiara' channels "The Godfather" to introduce us to the dynamics of a family that lives off crime. Through the eyes of Chiara, brilliantly played by the young Swamy Rotolo, we witness inescapable assimilation, which reveals how criminal culture infiltrates newer generations.

While there is next to no character development outside of Chiara, and the story hints at subplots that go nowhere, the film offers a culturally relevant character study.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Sep 1, 2022

The intrigue is strong enough to keep you glued to the story, but it has some drops in pace that bog it down pretty badly at times.

I liked the work of the main character. She really manages to sustain the film, maybe she just lacked the script to provide her with more variants, because sheThe intrigue is strong enough to keep you glued to the story, but it has some drops in pace that bog it down pretty badly at times.

I liked the work of the main character. She really manages to sustain the film, maybe she just lacked the script to provide her with more variants, because she feels very limited in terms of characterization, but still her work is commendable.

The film doesn't close strong, I can't really say I liked the ending, but I wasn't disappointed by any means. Give it a watch.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Aug 28, 2022

This is a pretty decent film, about a teenager who realises the somewhat shady line of work her father is involved in. I did think the shaky camerawork was a little distracting, although it perhaps does give it a feel of realism - a bit of a documentary feel, or sense, to it perhaps. IThis is a pretty decent film, about a teenager who realises the somewhat shady line of work her father is involved in. I did think the shaky camerawork was a little distracting, although it perhaps does give it a feel of realism - a bit of a documentary feel, or sense, to it perhaps. I thought the main character was well portrayed. It's sort of a film of two halves - there are scenes of her with her family, where things seem fine and scenes of her doggedly trying to find out what 'lies beneath' as it were. The nuisance, I felt, was at the end - I wasn't really sure quite where the main character stood - what the future held. I can't say its a bad film - its somewhat thoughtful and worth a watch overall I'd say but I was left feeling a little confused about what the ultimate outcome was.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

alanpotter17

Oct 30, 2022

Swamy Rotolo é inexpressiva, o filme não me envolveu com ela, o que tornou toda a experiência desagradável. Ela vai em busca de pistas para o desaparecimento do pai, e aí o roteiro, além de umas soluções meio bestas (a cena dela fugindo da assistente social) não se aprofunda nem nos dramasSwamy Rotolo é inexpressiva, o filme não me envolveu com ela, o que tornou toda a experiência desagradável. Ela vai em busca de pistas para o desaparecimento do pai, e aí o roteiro, além de umas soluções meio bestas (a cena dela fugindo da assistente social) não se aprofunda nem nos dramas da jovem, muito menos na complexa situação estrutural a que o pai (a essa altura do campeonato, um personagem mais interessante) vem vivendo. As irmãs então, ou as amigas da escola, são peças descartáveis.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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