Taglines: Can anyone escape their past?
Madame Luna movie storyline. Almaz has learned the hard way how to survive in a harsh contemporary world: from her time in servitude in the Eritrean army, she has made her way, as seemingly just one refugee among hundreds, to a center in Calabria, Italy. But, in between, she was Madame Luna, a powerful, illegal operator who held the lives of many people in her hands.
As she moves from isolation and solipsism to a new position of benevolent influence in a multicultural community, she discovers how difficult it is to erase the tragedy that haunts her nightmares – and how easy it is to slip into insidious, seductive networks of local criminality. Can Almaz manage to save others, yet alone herself?
Madame Luna is an Italian – Swedish drama film directed by Daniel Espinosa and starring Meninet Abraha Teferi, Hilyam Weldemichael, Claudia Potenza, Emanuele Vicorito, Aurora Peres, Luca Massaro, Paride Cicirello, Flaure B.B. Kabore, Claudio Collovà and Prince Manujibeya:. The screenplay was written by Maurizio Braucci, Suha Arraf and Daniel Espinosa.
Film Review for Madame Luna
After directing Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds in the sci-fi horror Life, and Oscar-winner Jared Leto in the not-so-successful Spider Man spin-off, Morbius, Swedish director of Chilean origin Daniel Espinosa (Easy Money, Child 44) has made his return to Europe to offer up Madame Luna, a drama about immigration which doesn’t feature famous names and which is based on a true story (see our interview with producer Vicky Miha). The protagonist is an Eritrean woman with a past as a ruthless human trafficker who, having been forced to flee Libya, has had to undertake a tragic journey across the Mediterranean herself and who mixes with other survivors once arrived in Italy.
Can a person change after committing unforgivable acts? This is one of the questions asked by Espinosa’s film which, following its world premiere in Rotterdam and the prize it won in Gothenburg (for Best Photography), has been selected for the Taormina Film Festival ahead of its release in Italian cinemas on 18 July via Europictures.
At the beginning of the movie, we see Almaz (Meninet Abraha Teferi) lost in a long line of migrants who have just arrived in Calabria, who are then examined, interrogated and allocated a number before being transferred to a local reception centre. We suspect this woman has something to hide, going by her furtive glances, her instinct to avoid police checks, and a phone call in which she confides she feels like she’s in danger. Our suspicions are confirmed when a compatriot of hers, Eli (Hilyam Weldemichael), recognises her on the street, calls her Madame Luna and calls her a criminal.
But young Eli, whose desperate and alone, promises not to report Almaz to the police if the latter helps her to free her brother who is currently being held in Libya. “You’ll need courage, not tears. And a lot of money”, is Almaz’s frosty response, who nonetheless finds the girl a job to help her achieve her aims.
In the meantime, our former trafficker who hides her past wins the trust of a family of criminals who use their cooperative to take advantage of migrants, first and foremost Nunzia (Claudia Potenza) and her brother Pino (Emanuele Vicorito). Speaking four languages and worldly-wise, the Eritrean offers to help them organise the labourers working in the camps in exchange for support vis-à-vis the Commission to obtain asylum and identity papers.
Things seem to be going well for Almaz, who secures untouchable status for herself, and the prospect of lucrative business with the Calabrian family at the migrants’ expense. But she’s continually haunted by nightmares where bodies float back up to the sea’s surface, and evidence of the cruel destiny which awaits other less wily refugees – Eli in particular – soon becomes intolerable.
Written by the director, together with Israeli-Palestinian screenwriter Suha Arraf (Lemon Tree [+], The Syrian Bride) and the screenwriter behind Gomorrah [+] and Black Souls [+] Maurizio Braucci, the film strikes a healthy balance between a brutal social portrait and an exploration of the internal dilemmas faced by our tough protagonist.
In fact, special mention should be made of actress, Meninet Abraha Teferi, whose intensity and screen-presence are second to none. Madame Luna is first and foremost a drama about survival. When Eli asks her if she feels guilty for her actions, the former trafficker replies: “I care about the dead, but I care more about staying alive”. What we’re prepared to do in order to survive is another question the film asks, introducing the unusual viewpoint of the perpetrator to the landscape of migrant-based dramas.
Madame Luna (2024)
Directed by: Daniel Espinosa
Starring: Meninet Abraha Teferi, Hilyam Weldemichael, Claudia Potenza, Emanuele Vicorito, Aurora Peres, Luca Massaro, Paride Cicirello, Flaure B.B. Kabore, Claudio Collovà, Prince Manujibeya:
Screenplay by: Maurizio Braucci, Suha Arraf, Daniel Espinosa
Production Design by: Brigitte Broch, Sabina Christova
Cinematography by: Juan Sarmiento
Film Editing by: Theis Schmidt
Costume Design by: Nicoletta Taranta
Set Decoration by: Costanza Gelardi
Art Direction by: Massimiliano Di Carlo, Tao Nørager
Music by: Jon Ekstrand
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Wild Bunch International
Release Date: July 18, 2024 (Italy)
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