Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
Starring Maria Alexandra Lungu, Sam Louwyck.
Life is not entirely easy for Gelsomina (Maria Alexandra Lungu). As the oldest of four daughters she is in a unique position in her family’s farm. Her sister is often jealous of her authority, while her father (Wolfgang-Sam Louwyck) expects her to do as much as him in tending for the bees and honey production. To make matters worse, money is an issue for the family. A number of unusual solutions present themselves, however, the first being a TV show showcasing local produce. The second is a juvenile offender, close to Gelsomina’s age, who is placed with the farm to learn a skill rather than going to jail.
There is more than a touch of the strange about The Wonders, beyond just differing cultural sensibilities, the unique attitudes of Gelsomina’s family, or the coming of age story. Perhaps that is part of the point. The Wonders is filled with a longing for a bygone age, be that the civilisation of the past, the innocence of youth, or a rustic rural lifestyle. It is not blinded by its nostalgia, however, and is aware thing were not as rosy as that lens can make it seem. The past is a fiction interpreted by a TV show, youth is an awkward balancing act (caught between the resentment of your younger siblings and the expectations of responsibility from adults), and living off the land was hard work just to gain subsistence. The Wonders may romanticise in part, but it strives for a balance of realism with the magic.
At times it is difficult to know exactly what to make of The Wonders. There is a greater message at work here, in fact a number of them, but they are so quietly and subtly expressed as to be lost in this gentle coming of age story. The predictions and protestations against the encouraging of tourism and hobby farmers at the expense of genuine agriculture, or the industrialisation and homogenisation of processing techniques that Wolfgang rallies against falls on deaf ears. Instead it is easier to get swept up in the charming visuals, and stickily visceral sense of the rural life (particularly in one honey-laden sequence) until the message lands forcibly home in the final shots.
A film as soft and gentle as the temperate summer days it shows, but with hints of something more substantial beneath the surface.
DAVID O’CONNELL
The Wonders screens at Somerville, UWA from Monday, March 9, until Sunday, March 15, as part of Lotterywest Festival Films. For tickets and session times, go to perthfestival.com.au.
