Emanuela Rossi, director of Darkness, explores the themes that have inspired her first feature, as well as the film’s prophetic nature.
Darkness was released in 2019, when Covid was still an unexplored threat, lurking in the background. So, the first striking theme of the film is its resemblance to our current situation. In fact, it’s set in a world in which women are not allowed to leave the house. While this may sound like an exaggerated version of our reality, the disproportionate impact the pandemic had on women is grounded in reality. In Italy, 98% of the 101,000 who lost their job due to the pandemic are women, according to Istat. This, combined with worries surrounding domestic violence, has contributed to making women one of the most affected groups during the pandemic. Rossi evidently recognises this as an issue plaguing society.
Rossi said: “The closure and isolation of the protagonists renders them vulnerable to men who have a predatory nature. For this reason what is happening now, with women being forced back home, exposes them to many problems and dangers.”
Though by her own admission the themes of isolations have been explored before in similar formats, Rossi decided to offer a different perspective. Instead of having the abuser as the central figure of the film, she decided to focus on the girls: the father, who is not given a name, is notably absent for a large portion of the film.
She added how this aspect of the film, despite being modeled on an Italian tradition, resonated with a woman in her 80s who grew up under the dictatorship Franco’s Spain.
A sign of these deep cultural tie-ins is evident in the use of religion. She said: “Stella’s religion is a bit childish, but beautiful. She says God is good, which is the complete opposite of her father’s perception”. Religion is at the same time used as a tool of destruction and one of liberation, as the young women rediscover their own strength through spirituality.
Rossi said: “At first, Stella wants to be like her dad, and she tries that domineering approach with her sisters. Then she finds another way, one of kindness and collaboration.”
This is something that closely resembles’ Rossi’s own journey.
Graduated in Film History, Rossi started out working as a journalist. She said: “I knew I wanted to be a director since I was seven years old, but insecurity caused me to have doubts and hold back. Then I moved to Rome.”
Rossi spoke about her two-year experience as a director on an Italian TV-series, Thou Shalt Not Kill. She said: “I was with a troupe of 70 people in the mountains and the valleys of Piemonte, and there I truly felt like a leader of an army.”
While initially, she tried to embrace a more traditionally masculine approach, one defined by domination, with time she abandoned it. This carried through to her directorial style, adding that the only way we can envision this new type of leadership is by putting women in positions of power, like a director’s chair. Rossi said: “We have to keep trying and show we can do this.”
Words by Elisabetta Pulcini
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