I Want Her Dead

Two women stand facing each other amid the ruins of a Roman theater. Under the watchful eye of the local police and the family to which they both belong, Luisa and Imma air their mutual grievances. The heated argument that follows reveals just how deep the rift runs between the two sisters-in-law.

Director Gianluca Matarrese used a decade-long conflict in his own family to explore the meaning of blood ties in a Calabrian village. Contrada Viscigliette has only seventy inhabitants, all of whom are related. Disputes like the one between Imma and Luisa therefore have a major impact on the community. Matarrese introduces a group of aunts who try to reconcile the two women.

This allows the viewer to learn more about the background of the conflict. A mother who turned her back on her daughter. A difference in social status that bred contempt. Kevin Brunet’s camerawork captures the conversations, dinners and arguments so vividly that as a viewer you sometimes feel like you’re watching a tragicomedy by Ettore Scola. A folk song plays: “The real winner is the one who forgives.” Will either of them be able to do so?