Set in Italy, Antonio Capuano’s L’isola di Andrea (Andrea’s Island) is an imaginative and disquieting look at a family torn apart by what appear to be irreconcilable differences—and so much more. Capuano seeks to rip into his couples’ respective psyches to find out why they can no longer be together. He’s also keenly interested in how it’s affecting their young son.
When we first meet Marta (Teresa Saponangelo) and Guido (Vinicio Marchioni) they are seemingly near the end of a bitter custody battle for their bizarrely behaved eight-year-old son Andrea (Andrea Migliucci). Guido has gone to see Marta, against her wishes and something scary seems afoot. We then flashback to the estranged duo visiting a judge for the first time, with their respective attorneys, hoping for a ruling as to who gets to spend what amount of time with the boy. The magistrate interviews both parents forcing them to dig deep into why they split up. In addition, she wants to meet with Andrea, separately, with his mother and then his father—which proves even more revealing.
Capuano’s gem of a film looks to all sides not seeking villains and heroes the way the overrated, soapy Oscar-winner, Kramer vs. Kramer did back in 1979—Dustin Hoffman must have had it in his contract that his character have all the screen time over poor Meryl Streep. Instead, L’Isola Di Andrea doesn’t judge its characters so much as attempt to understand who they BOTH are, where they came from and where they went wrong. In addition, and arguably most important, the film is concerned with how their selfish and damaging relationship is shaping who Andrea is becoming.
In simple storytelling, with narrative touches of the surreal, Capuano creates a kind of cinematic poem, one that proves shattering. And the final scene involving the titular character is funny, sweet…and chilling.
The writer-director has perfectly cast his film beginning with Saponanagelo doing phenomenal work as a woman who seeks out her desires but truly loves her son. Marchioni makes for an adoring and doting father, a desperate husband, and creepy human. The young Migliucci is a find, he gives the kind of natural child performance rarely seen—petulant and annoyed, but still semi-innocent to the horrific ways of adults.
L’Isola di Andrea is a searing and honest look at a couple torn apart by their own messiness and how toxic masculinity factors in. Many men still think when they marry a woman, they somehow own her. Italy is still steeped in Catholicism, a religious that seeks to shame women who dare to not follow certain rules. Of course, it’s not just Catholic culture that promotes these dangerous hyper-masculine ideas. Capuano’s film seeks to expose the results of such extreme beliefs.
In Italian, with English subtitles.
L’Isola di Andrea is being shown Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival.
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