This
is the other Naples—the city we never see in films like Gomorrah. It is a center of great art and architecture, but death
remains a constant presence there. Indeed, those cobblestone alleyways are both
romantic and ominous in Ferzan Ozpetek’s Naples
in Veils (trailer
here),
which screens during Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2018.
After
one scorching hot night with Andrea, Adriana is convincing he must be the one.
Therefore, she is rather disappointed when he fails to show for their date the
next day. The good news is he did not intentionally stand her up. The bad news
is he happens to be on her slab at the medical examiner’s office. He wasn’t
merely murdered. He was also blinded and disfigured. Looks like a Camorra
warning killing to us, but nobody comes to that conclusion in this film.
Already
reeling from horror and disappointment, Adriana starts seeing Andrea’s
doppelganger throughout the city. That would be Luca, his twin brother, who was
separately adopted out while both were still in infancy. Luca’s planned meeting
with Andrea never happened, but he needs little encouragement to pick up with
Adriana where his brother left off. Of course, they both agree to keep his kept-man
presence in her flat secret, for fear his brother’s killers will then come
looking for him. This definitely includes the police and even Antonio, the rumpled
detective falling for her. Much to her own surprise, Adriana also starts feels a
degree of attraction to him as well, further complicating matters.
The
Naples of Gomorrah is nowhere to be
found in the lush, sophisticated Veils,
which should do wonders for the city’s tourist trade. The locales are
exquisitely cinematic, while the drama itself is unapologetically steamy. It
mostly qualifies as a psychological thriller in the tradition of De Palma’s Obsession, but there are also oblique
hints of the supernatural. Yet, the really cool thing about the film is the
extent to which its twists and turns are rooted in the city’s macabre lore.
Giovanna
Mezzogiorno is absolutely terrific as the haunted (in whichever sense of the
word) Adriana, proving you do not need to look like a CGI-enhanced supermodel
to heat up the screen. Nobody will nod off during her scenes with Alessandro
Borghi (as both brothers), but she is at her best playing with and off Adriana’s
extended family and family friends, who constitute Naples old guard. Anna
Buonaiuto is wonderfully tart-tongued and regal as Aunt Adele, while Beppe
Barra is practically the soul of Naples incarnate as old ribald Pasquale.
Frankly,
the merits of the ending are debatable, but it is a pleasure getting there. Watching
Veils is like a sipping a series of cappuccinos
on the city’s piazzas. Ozpetek masterfully commands the film’s seductive mood and
even manages to pull off a surprise or two through misdirection. It may very
well be his best film yet. Very highly recommended, Naples in Veils screens this Saturday (6/2) at the Walter Reade as
part of this year’s Open Roads (and it can also be seen at the Seattle International Film Festival on 6/2, 6/5, and 6/6).
