Mosquitoes

Bluesky

The debut directorial collaboration between sisters Nicole and Valentina Bertani, which premiered in Locarno, blasts along with the energy of childhood and is fuelled by memories of their own upbringing. The approach gives Mosquitoes a blast of colour and momentum but it also makes for an unruly watch in places, all too ready to scamper on to the next element rather than take stock of what has already happened.

It’s 1997 and eight-year-old Linda (Mia Ferricelli) is already dealing with more than she should have to. Her mother Eva (Clara Tramontano) might, on the surface of it, appear to be a ‘fun mum’, but much of her spontaneity stems from addiction. Uprooted from her grandmother’s home by her mother, Linda finds herself on a well-appointed housing estate with other youngsters whose parents are less than nurturing.

The mother (Jessica Piccolo Valerani) of under-10s Azzurra (Agnese Scazza) and Marta (Petra Scheggia), meanwhile, is more interested in doll making than looking after her girls, while their father (Alessandro Gautiero) is more noticeable to his daughters by the cloud of cigarette smoke he carries with him than any verbal interactions. It’s noticeable that Azzurra’s Tamagotchi toy – one of the many nice nods to the period – gets more nurturing than she and her sister do. The saving grace for the sisters is their gay babysitter Carlino (Milutin Dapčević), who takes solid, if chaotic, care of them in between fantasising about Princess Di and Gianni Versace.

Carlino’s unabashed fluidity in a homophobic environment offers a sort of halfway house for the youngsters who themselves are on the cusp of all that teenagedom will bring with it. The directors chart the friendship that forms between the trio of girls across the summer, along with their wider encounters, as cracks appear in the world of the adults.

Shot in squared off 1.85:1 ratio – except for a handful of ‘world expanding’ moments – the choice is fitting for the intensity of the children’s gaze and the directors ’work with the young cast is immaculate, with all giving naturalistic and engaging performances. The very nature of operating on the children’s emotional wavelength, however, has a tendency to make the action feel disjointed, especially given the number of stylistic flourishes on display. The generally punk approach brings hit and miss moments in equal measure but the dark nature of the underlying subject matter makes for a strange brew of a film that may struggle to find an audience willing to embrace both its sparkly and serious side.

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