Overview: John Duncombe, the British consul in Florence, returns home from his wife’s funeral to his two children, who are unaware of their mother’s passing.

He makes the decision to tell his eldest son, Andrea, but hides the truth from his sickly younger son, Milo. Director Luigi Comenicini (The Sunday Woman) captures the innocence and carefree moments of youth alongside the agonizing feelings of grief, creating one of the finest films about childhood, one which can stand alongside The 400 Blows, The Spirit of the Beehive and L’enfance nue.

A Palme d’Or nominee at the Cannes Film Festival and recipient of multiple awards from Italian institutions, Misunderstood features remarkable performances from the children and from Anthony Quayle (Lawrence of Arabia) as Duncombe.

Blu-ray Verdict: For the record, Asia Argento is a multi-talented filmmaker - actress, writer, director and producer. Her father is Dario Argento, well known for directing gialo horror films, and her mother is Italian actress Daria Niccolodi. Add in her grandmother, who was famed documentarian Leni Riefenstahl, and it’s understandable why Asia has created (with co-writer Barbara Alberti) this semi-autobiographical story of Aria; a young girl struggling with self-absorbed parents and a world where she doesn’t seem to fit.

In short, this film portrays, and exceedingly well the difficulty of the transition between childhood and adolescence, and that of growing up in a dysfunctional family, the characters, the situations feel very real and I can relate to many of them, either because of personal experience or friend’s experience.

The characters are memorable throughout, especially the lazy, older half sister with her morbid relationship with her father and her gaudy pink room, the crazy, self obsessed artist mother, and of course the main character, Aria.

Unusually for me, I do not wish to spend too much time analyzing the film, as it is one where you yourself have to undertake to truly establish your very own connection with it, but suffice to say that if you like good films about teenagers, or coming of age films, you should check this out as it might just be for you.

In closing, Misunderstood is ultra visually stylish, is well acted throughout, has some great script moments, has some moments of diligent, solid character acting, and comes complete with a most wondrous soundtrack.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
New 2024 2K restoration from the original negative
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Interview with co-screenwriter Piero De Bernardi and Cristina Comenicini, the director’s daughter and herself a noted filmmaker (2008, 36 mins)
Interview with legendary critic Michel Ciment (2021, 24 mins)
A Child’s Heart - a visual essay by David Cairns on Comencini and the filmmaker’s affinity for childhood stories (2023, 25 mins)
Trailer
Newly translated English subtitles
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original promotional materials
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critic Manuela Lazic and a newly translated archival interview with Comencini

www.radiancefilms.co.uk