Lucia

Lucia mourns in front of a cross, possibly a grave (of her beloved one, as the director himself says). She is never going to see him again. Because of her intense sadness she plucks her eyes in front of the cross and falls unconscious. During these moments she will meet a mysterious woman. 

Francesco Fontana’s film ‘Lucia’ is shot in black and white with high contrasts and using great lighting that indicates much importance is given to cinematography. The visuals successfully contribute to both the aesthetics and the mood of the film and to its tangential religious tint.

The film is a story about the inner pain that comes with the losing of the beloved one, a feeling most of us have either experienced or are able to relate to. Thus the theme chosen by the director makes it easy for the audience to empathise with the main character. 

What is interesting though is the subtle philosophic-religious dimension of the story. It is first the protagonist’s name, ‘Lucia’, that draws attention. Lucia comes from latin and means ‘light’. It is a name that is easily connected to religion being not only borne by saints but also taken by nuns. One can easily observe that the first thing Lucia gives up by pulling her eyes out is ‘light’ itself: in a moment of weakness, in a moment when she cannot possibly bear the thought she will never see her beloved one again she decides there is nothing else important in the world left for her to see and she refers to this extreme gesture. It is obviously a rushed decision taken instinctually and making her fall unconscious. It is this losing of consciousness that marks the gravity of her gesture – she has given into her emotions and committed an act of rage. During this time as she is lying on the ground a mysterious woman appears to her in her dream and takes the life away from her. This image will haunt the viewer with an obsessive question – who is this unknown woman in Fontana’s experimental? Could she be an angel? Angels don’t take lives. Could she be the ‘temptation’ Lucia has resigned to? Or is she Death herself which decides Lucia should be deprived by light permanently due to her gesture – and light in this case can be associated with divinity? Francesco Fontana’s short experimental ‘Lucia’ will definitely trigger reflection.