Naples in Veils is a 2019 drama about magic and superstition, madness and rationality, where a mystery envelops the existence of Adriana, overwhelmed by a sudden love and a violent crime.
Here’s a film where the journey is indeed better than the destination, the mystery the thing rather than the reveal. Naples in Veils, from director Ferzan Ozpetek is an opulent tour of sex, death, and secrets, ultimately better for the way it’s directed than written, the film a lush, well-acted and beautifully-photographed experience that will feel familiar to many weaned on cryptic thrillers of the 70s and 80s.
Adriana (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) is a wallflower of sorts, not dating much but part of an influential and successful Italian family, who hold some authority as it were. She meets a handsome young man named Andrea (Alessandro Borghi) at a performance art show, the two instantly drawn to each other, finding themselves in a fast sexual tryst later in the night. Thinking she might have found the one, she is disappointed when he doesn’t show up for their date the following night. However, the next day at work – she a medical examiner for the city morgue – while working on an unidentified and mutilated man, soon realizes that is it Andrea. Pulled into an investigation, she then begins to see what she thinks is his ghost walking the streets, but no, there is something even more curious about this figure in the shadows, keeping Adriana at the heart of a deception.
It’s no fluke the title, Naples in Veils (Italian: Napoli velata), the old Italian city a living breathing figure in the story where even the high mid-day sun hides secrets in the shadows. It’s partly to distract you, the architecture, art, and music lulling you into expectations about the place and time as those who occupy it become entangled in the dense complications of a story swirling about in questions.
And questions are aplenty, Ozpetek – who co-wrote the story – leaves every room we walk into, every street we cross, and every person we talk with feeling as if they are deeply integral to the outcome (I’m purposefully avoiding some key plot points). However, there is less forensics behind the eventual truths than superstition and lore, Andrea encountering soothsayers and fortune tellers among others while she struggles to discover what it all means. It’s not always easy to stick with her, the story seemingly convoluted to make broader use of these wildly eccentric characters in keeping foggy the horizon, but nonetheless, it’s nearly impossible not to follow her down the rabbit hole.
Either way, Ozpetek’s greater skills is his direction, the movie a wonder for cinephiles hooked on the artfulness of visual storytelling, the small subtle movement of his camera – for those paying attention – betraying volumes about those it is trained on. There’s a wonderful moment in a richly ornamented space where the film tracks the movements of people from a gathering earlier, they now not on screen, only the sounds of their voices and the clinks of their glasses accompanying the sweep and drops of the camera. It’s moments like this, in a collection of many more like it, that give Naples in Veils such personality, indeed, like many films of the region.
Still more is Mezzogiorno, who proves herself the most compelling reason to give this a look, dismantling many archetypes of the modern Hollywood standard for women in film. She is brutally real, sensual, erotic, and because so identifiable, feels far more authentic than many of her supermodel-esque American counterparts. This is a fiercely natural performance.
Naples in Veils can be a challenge, especially at its end where things might not combine as expected or hoped for. Still, this is about getting there instead of being there, the tapestry of the tale better close up than from afar. For fans of classic noir-ish mysteries and good old-fashioned movie magic. Recommended.