Vermiglio (2024) review

In the municipality of Vermiglio (which is in northern Italy), a small group of villagers go about their lives while World War II is underway: instructor Cesare (Tommaso Ragno) teaches both children and adults (when not repeatedly knocking up his spouse), everyone drinks a lot of wine, the kids spy on the grown-ups ... and Sicilian deserter Pietro (Giuseppe De Domenico) appears and falls in love with Cesare's daughter Lucia (Martina Scrinzi).  The scenery is beautiful and well photographed, but that's all that's notable from this vapid period movie: the characters are underdeveloped and the conversations are vague, and nothing dramatic happens until the "truth" regarding Pietro's past comes out - it turns out he already has another wife and is killed off-screen - and then Lucia has an emotional breakdown.  Delpero wants to peddle in ambiguity and allow the ambience to tell the story, which is rather lazy ... and then it has the audacity to convince the audience it earns its "poignant ending."  The only positive is that little Flavia (Anna Thaler) - who informs her dad she's "become a woman" in a sweet scene - is smart enough to learn from the experience and leave in order to join a much more diverse society.