Steel (Stefano Mordini, 2012): Italy

Reviewed by Grace Williamson at the Metro IV, Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Steel, a film I wish I had never seen.  When I read the blurb about Steel I thought I was reading,  “Off the beautiful coast of Italy in paradise, Anna and Francesca, two teenage girls explore their last summer of innocence  before high school.” When in reality what it actually said was, “In a working class town off the coast of Italy just miles from paradise, Anna and Francesca, two teenage girls spend their last summer of innocence before high school. ” Which still sounds intriguing, but it was not interesting the way it was executed; when I read “last summer of innocence” I think of the film “Thirteen” and how its the transition from the beginning to the end and lack of innocence that makes it worth watching.

This film by Stefano Mordini tells a story about two young girls during their summer escapades before their first year of high school.  Though these girls are shown in a somewhat sexualized view, the film stops short.  It never goes that extra mile to exaggerate the point; perhaps I was expecting more of an American view on this coming-of-age tale.  Anna and Francesca start the film as best friends, and through the ups and downs of boys and their own sexual feelings towards one another they part ways.  When they do so, the audience is shown long shots of these girls sitting on a bench doing nothing, or in a car, nothing really interesting happens in this time of the movie.

I spent the whole course of the film trying to figure out the reason why it was made, or maybe what the point it was trying to get at, but I was terribly disappointed because it seemed to follow no real plot.  I did however enjoy the Italian view on Italy, which in this film which was shot in a very impoverished area was a breath of fresh air compared to every American movie showing only the tourist locations.  I realized in this movie that the subtitles were very subtle, I felt like I didn’t even realize it was in a different language which is ideal to comprehend the story.

While trying to watch this, I felt easily distracted and bored, which is not something I would want to feel in any film.  There were points when I wish I could have fallen asleep, because that would have made the experience more enjoyable.  All in all I guess I just wanted more action, and sex for a movie I thought would bring that all to the table, I was unsatisfied with this film.