It’s always the front pages of the newspapers that hit the headlines. The latest case was that of the twenty-nine year old Pamela Genini, killed in Milan by her ex-boyfriend Gianluca Soncin. Murder is often, as the cinema also tells, the tragic conclusion of a journey full of clues that we tend to ignore. And above all to forgive.
Tonight at 9.20pm on Rai 3 will be broadcast for the first time Blanche’s couragepresented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. The director is Valérie Donzelli, one of the best transalpines behind the camera (the beautiful À pied d’œuvre seen this year at the Venice Film Festival will arrive in theaters in 2026). Blanche’s courage focuses on gender violence and toxic relationships.
The protagonist faces her solitary life with serene resignation. She loves her independence, suspended between work and her relationship with her family. In particular, she is very close to her twin. One day she is the one who drags her to a beach party, where sparks fly. He is charming, in love, but hides something dark. This is where Blanche’s courage it becomes a warning, always relevant. Donzelli warns: control is not love.
He monitors her cell phone, takes her away from her environment, wants her only for himself. He is jealous, he calls her incessantly, he has sudden outbursts of anger. He experiences every external element as a threat to their relationship. And of course this is only the starting point, the situation worsens more and more, resulting in fear, in following each other, in obsession. The danger, as the director suggests, is thinking that it is something that doesn’t concern us, is wanting to justify at all costs behaviors that should be condemned immediately.
Two years have passed since the premiere at Cannes, and the film is unfortunately increasingly true, rooted in our time. The mistake is closing your eyes, not wanting to listen to yourself. So what is the “courage” of the title? Knowing how to curb bad behavior, knowing how to claim one’s freedom and above all being respected. And, if necessary, end the relationship. Blanche’s courage is taken from Love and the Forests, pungent book written by Éric Reinhardt, and rests on the crystalline talent of Virginie Efira, which here is addressed directly to the public, because feeling cannot be poison.
