Title: Indivisibili
Director: Edoardo De Angelis
Cast: Angela Fontana, Marianna Fontana, Antonia Troppo, Massimiliano Rossi, Tony Laudadio, Marco Mario De Notaris, Gaetano Bruno, Gianfranco Gallo, Peppe Servillo.
Italian filmmaker Edoardo De Angelis presents a disquieting modern tale about ancestral exploitation of a physical distortion. Daisy and Viola are siamese twin sisters living in the suburbs of Naples. Their nightingale voices and their unique bodies have triggered their father to take advantage and earn money by making them perform at weddings, communions and baptisms. But as the adolescent girls, who are about to turn eighteen, their desire for independent lives and the discovery that they can be separated will give them hope of a new existence.
De Angelis’ pays homage to Tod Browning’s 1932 movie ‘Freaks,’ starring the real siamese sisters Daisy and Violet Hilton. The tribute is clear since the Fontana girls share the name of the British conjoined siblings. The Italian sisters embody the small town’s show biz sensation with great effectiveness, also thanks to the fact they already had some television participations under their belt, as singers and entertainers.
‘Indivisibili’ which translates to “Indivisible” is a story about how separation is necessary to find ourselves. It is a painful the journey required to leave the nest. Emir Kusturica defined the Neapolitan director as a “visionary talent”, and this film attests how a cinematic narrative can portray a very profound metaphor relating to all the nuances of detachment. Moreover, his skillful special effects makes the Fontana sisters truly look attached to each other’s hips.
The great talent of the sisters who get the livelihood for the whole family in the minuscule town of Castelvolturno, is obnubilated by their physical trait which becomes the main attraction. Beauty and ugliness are thus two sides of the same coin. The world acclaims these girls for being like no other, as they aspire to a normal life, with a heart wrenching, raw interpretation from the entire cast, melodiously orchestrated by the adroit Edoardo De Angelis.
Technical: B+
Acting: A
Story: B
Overall: B+
Written by: Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
