Lending voice to everyday heroes, to people who face immense hardship every single day and whose only superpower is their humanity, is the premise for Stefano Chiantini’s new film, Come gocce d’acqua, whose working title was actually Supereroi [Superheroes]. Presented in the 19th Rome Film Fest’s Grand Public section and hitting Italian cinemas on 5 June, courtesy of BiM, the nineth feature film by the prolific 50-year-old Abruzzo-born director (responsible for no fewer than four films over the past four years, including Una madre, with another title already in post-production) is a drama about bottled up feelings and emotions revolving around the complicated relationship between an absent father and a daughter who’s little more than a teenager, a relationship in need of rebuilding and sorely put to the test by a sudden illness and the revelation of a shocking secret which turns their lives upside down.

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Jenny (newcomer Sara Silvestro) is a promising, young swimmer. Following an important competition, which she wins, she seeks out her friends, her partner and her coach among the crowd, everyone except her father who’s also been following her progress from the bleachers and cheering her on. This father, Alvaro (Edoardo Pesce), left Jenny and her mother many years previously for another woman. But now he’s determined to be present and to share in his daughter’s successes because, as a former swimmer, he’s the one who passed on his passion for water-based contests to her. But Jenny has never forgiven him, and regaining his daughter’s trust proves an uphill battle for Alvaro. Penned by Chiantini himself, the screenplay skillfully depicts the tiny steps taken towards potential reconciliation: a joke which makes her smile, a song which makes them both dance or a swimming challenge in the open sea to see who’s fastest. But just when the ice seems close to melting, misfortune strikes in the form of a stroke which leaves Alvaro disabled.

With profound humanity, the film depicts the natural instinct of a child who doesn’t hesitate to take care of their parent, in spite of their flaws, shortcomings and any mistakes they’ve made. Jenny makes sacrifices to be with her father: she pauses her racing career for a time, against the advice of everyone but especially her mother, Margherita (Barbara Chichiarelli), who’s present, empathic but decidedly imperfect, as we learn at a later point when we find out about her past and the reasons behind her split from Alvaro. We intimately observe this irregular family, as if spying through a keyhole, a family which keeps on functioning, in spite of everything (“even with all its dysfunctioning, family is the place where we really learn about forgiveness”, the director insists), and whose members help and support one another without any fuss. It’s a film which plays on silences and on the apnea-like difficulties its characters have in expressing their feelings (in fact, Apnea was another title which Chiantini considered for this feature film), a film which speaks through the bodies and faces of its protagonists and which knows how to move the audience through expert use of plot twists and changes of perspective.

Come gocce d’acqua was produced by World Video Production and Ballandi alongside RAI Cinema and in collaboration with Paris-based firm Bling Flamingo.