Rome, 1984, Aria is nine-year-old girl. On the verge of divorce, Aria's infantile and selfish parents are too preoccupied with their careers and extra-marital affairs to properly tend to any of Aria's needs. While her two older sisters are pampered, Aria is treated with cold indifference. Yet she yearns to love and to be loved. At school, Aria excels academically but is considered a misfit by everyone. She is misunderstood. Aria finds comfort in her cat - Dac and in her best friend - Angelica. Thrown out of both parents' homes, abandoned by all, even her best friend, Aria finally reaches the limit of what she can bear. She makes an unexpected decision in her life.
Acting
Giulia Salerno's feral, watchful stillness—child performance of the decade.
Direction
Argento's autobiographical venom, shot through with Fellini-esque excess.
Cinematography
Rome as rotting paradise—beauty that suffocates.
Director
Asia Argento
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Argento cast her own daughter Anna Lou as Aria's favored sister Donatina—a queasy meta-layer of maternal favoritism restaged.
The film bombed in Italy partly because Argento aired elite Roman family's dirty laundry; critics called it 'indulgent' while missing its Fellini lineage.
IT
FR
