The Ties movie storyline. Naples, early 1980s: Aldo and Vanda’s marriage finds itself on the rocks when Aldo falls in love with the young Lidia. Thirty years later, Aldo and Vanda are still married. A thriller about emotions, a story of loyalty and infidelity, of rancor and shame. A betrayal, suffering, a secret box, a devastated home, a cat, the voice of the lovers and that of the estranged.
The Ties (Italian: Lacci) is a 2020 Italian romantic drama film directed by Daniele Luchetti, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Domenico Starnone. It stars Alba Rohrwacher, Luigi Lo Cascio, Laura Morante, Silvio Orlando, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Adriano Giannini, Linda Caridi, and Francesca De Sapio.
The film had its world premiere on 2 September 2020 at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, out of competition. The film was released in Italy on October 1, 2020 by 01 Distribution. It was the opening night film of the 2021 San Diego Italian Film Festival in October 2021.
Director’s Statement
When I read Lacci (published in English as Ties) for the first time I found in it questions that concerned me directly and characters with which it was hard not to identify. From a family history that spans thirty years and two generations, with bonds that seem more like barbed wire than ties of love, you emerge with a question: have you let your life be ruled by love?
Lacci is a film about the hidden forces that bind us. It is not just love that unites people, but also what is left when love is no more. It is possible to stay together out of rancor, in shame, in dishonor, in a foolish attempt of keep your word. Lacci recounts the damage that love inflicts when it makes us suddenly change course and—worse still—when it ceases to accompany us.
About the Story
Naples, early eighties. Aldo and Vanda are married and have two children, Anna and Sandro. One evening, the life of this apparently peaceful family is disturbed by the confession that Aldo, a radio speaker in Rome, makes to his wife: the man has been with another woman, even if he doesn’t yet know what feelings he really has for her. . Vanda is shocked by the news and chases Aldo away, involuntarily pushing him into the arms of her lover, Lidia. The two, who are also work colleagues, go to live together in Rome.
A short time later, Vanda joins her husband on the radio to remind him of the commitment he has made with the marriage and to invite him to return home, but Aldo makes her understand that he has fallen in love with Lidia. Subsequently, during a visit by the man to the children, Vanda reproaches her husband for neglecting the family and causing uneasiness for the children, and therefore urges him again to return home.
However, Aldo refuses and at this point the situation worsens: Vanda physically attacks the man and his lover, in front of the frightened eyes of the children; Aldo lets Anna and Sandro be entrusted exclusively to their mother, without fighting for their custody and therefore, in effect, abandoning them; Vanda attempts suicide by throwing herself out of the window. Despite the serious injuries sustained, the woman slowly recovers, while Aldo persists in his decision not to return home.
A few years later, at Sandro’s insistence, Vanda agrees to let her children see their father again and renew their relationship with him. Faced with the difficulty of dividing himself between two lives, the one in Rome with Lidia and the one in Naples with his children, and above all faced with the manifestations of unease on the part of Anna, who suffers from the separation from her father, Aldo decides to leave Lidia and to return to Vanda, with whom he will remain until old age, however preserving the memory of his lover and continuing to cheat on his wife with other women.
The “ties” that were supposed to keep the family together are therefore the “weapons” that husband and wife used to harm each other, causing suffering to their children too. The latter, now adults, go to their parents’ house, who have left for a short holiday, to feed the Labès cat. After discussing their own lives and the pain that their parents’ hypocritical choices have caused them, Sandro and Anna destroy Aldo and Vanda’s house as a form of release and revenge.
The Ties (2020)
Lacci
Directed by: Daniele Luchetti
Starring: Alba Rohrwacher, Luigi Lo Cascio, Laura Morante, Silvio Orlando, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Adriano Giannini, Linda Caridi, Francesca De Sapio, Vito Vinci, Simona Tabasco, Antonella Monetti
Screenplay by: Domenico Starnone, Francesco Piccolo, Daniele Luchetti
Production Design by: Andrea Castorina
Cinematography by: Ivan Casalgrandi
Film Editing by: Daniele Luchetti, Aël Dallier Vega
Costume Design by: Massimo Cantini Parrini
Set Decoration by: Marco Martucci
Art Direction by: Stefano Cenname, Francesca De Simone
Music by:
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: 01 Distribution
Release Date: September 2, 2020 (Venice), October 1, 2020 (Italy)
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