Misunderstood

Visually, effortlessly stunning in an almost incomparable way. In the Radiance Films restoration, Luigi Comencimi’s Italy looks like dreamy, chalk candy wonderland. Narratively it’s a straight shot to the heart — newer films can be defined by their attempts to meld genre to progress storytelling and differentiate themselves. That’s an admirable and necessary step, especially in an art form as young as film, but maybe it’s just old enough to start really yearning for the genuinely formulaic again. Misunderstood is that in the best way: a coming of age tragedy about Andrea, the elder son of a grieving, well-meaning consul. Like so many other films it gets down to the larger world of children, one where everything is terrifying and everything unfair. It’s simple, and it’s powerful.