THEn wave tonight at 9.50pm on Rai 1 and RaiPlay, Something lilac is a TV film that tells the drama of eating disorders through Nicole’s story. A fifteen year old daughter of separated parents which slowly slides into the bulimia nervosa after dating a problematic girl. An authentic and touching film starring the young promise of Italian cinema Federica Pala.
Something lilac: the plot of the film tonight 2 April on Rai1 and RaiPlay
Nicole (Federica Pala) is 15 years old, with a passion for mathematics and for the ancient coins, found with the metal detector together with his father (Alessandro Tersigni). He lives in an apartment in the suburbs with his mother (Raffaella Rea) who works in a gym as a personal trainer, and with whom she has a conflicting relationship like many teenagers. Nicole’s life changes when Luce (Margherita Buoncristiani), a new classmate, arrives in her class as charismatic as it is overwhelming.
Like Lucignolo with Pinocchio, Luce drags Nicole into a world of excesswhere everything is pushed to the max. Including the bulimia she suffers from since she was little.
Only after sudden death of Luce for cardiac arrest, Nicole’s parents will realize the abyss into which their daughter has fallen. Fortunately, Marco (Miguel Bonini) arrives in the young girl’s life, a boy with whom she falls in love, who reciprocates. He is of Filipino origins, and is the only one of the boys described in the film with a united and functional family. Will the love for her parents and for Marco be able to save Nicole from the disease?
Federica Pala and Margherita Buoncristiani in “Something Lilac”. (Photo by Francesco Marino)
A touching film based on the book by Maruska Albertazzi
Directed by director Isabella Leoni, Something lilac it is a film that addresses bulimia with a view that goes beyond the symptominterpreting dysfunctional eating behavior as the expression of a need for listening and recognition. Based on the novel of the same name by Marusca Albertazzi, published by Solferino Books, the film does not tell the story of someone who heals, but of a girl who takes a first step towards changechoosing to want to heal.
With photography that favors a warm palette and a material texture that recalls analogue film, Something lilac owns a realistic atmosphere that does not amplify the tragic nature of the narrative passages. Furthermore, the choice of shoot with a handheld camera strengthens the intimate and subjective system, allowing adhere to the intimacy of the protagonist.
The scenes of food crises avoid any form of spectacularizationpreferring a fragmented montage that emphasizes the psychological dimension compared to the descriptive one. The original music – finally – they amplify the emotional vibration, ed they evoke the constant noise of internal conflict who accompanies Nicole. While among the songs on the soundtrack stands out It almost seems like it of Fulminacci.
The cast of Something lilac and the young protagonist Federica Pala
Born in 2007, Federica Pala is a very young actress with an important curriculum behind her. Discovered by the D’Innocenzo brothers in the film Latin America, she also played the role of Sarah Scazzi in the Disney+ series This isn’t Hollywood. It will be soon protagonist of the short Should I Fall Behind by director Alessandro Farrattini Pojani.
On his role in Something lilac, the actress stated in an interview with Republic that: «We built Nicole together with the director, who became like an aunt to mebased on Maruska’s screenplay. I did some personal research on bulimia nervosa, which I didn’t know about. The most important thing for me was to tell it with truth and respect in its clinical reality. I added to the study I feel the topic very closely, because it is something that many of my peers suffer from».
