Roberta Torre's film Angela is based on the true story of a young woman born in the market neighbourhood of Palermo, Sicilia.
'Angela (Donatella Finocchiero) is married to Saro (Mario Pupello), and for years shares his Mafia life of drug dealing and easy money. She is his wife, his mistress, and his confidante. The life she leads fascinates her, she like the luxury, the money, and above all, the risk.
When she sees Masino (Andrea Di Stefano) for the first time, she mistakes him for an undercover cop. But he becomes her husband's right-hand-man and she and Masino begin a passionate and tormented love affair.
Angela is the story of a woman and her life in the solitude of a world made of laws written by old men. It also paints the fresco of a world both cruel and disarming, where men are constantly forced to deny their own true feelings.'
The cinematography was beautiful for such a low-budget, but perhaps a little repetitive. Throughout the film there are constant shots of mirrors and reflections, with frequent employment of framing and close-up techniques. The power of the Mafia is terrifyingly strong, controlling so much of the market and culture of Italy, especially in the south, and films like Angela develop this sense of claustrophobia and entrapment in a world of fear and survival.
