Raphael, the Renaissance artist, was famous because he painted people as they were with no embellishment. At least this is what one character in A Chiara tells another. I took this to be the director’s way of saying that he too was attempting to portray his subject without embellishment. And clearly, A Chiara, written and directed by Jonas Carpignano, is meant to paint a realistic picture of organized crime in Southern Italy. The obvious comparison here is with Matteo Garrone’s 2008 film, Gomorrah, based on the book by Roberto Saviano (although the film and book are quite different). But while Gorrone’s film was unremittingly bleak and one of the least glamorous portrayals of crime in Italy, Carpignano’s at times comes close to offering some sort of defence of the gangsters. This is, though, an entertaining film. I found it less ‘educational’ but more fun to watch than Gomorrah.
The film follows Chiara, 15, who is just discovering that her father Claudio is a member of the ‘Ndrangheta, the criminal organization based in Calabria. And she learns this when her father disappears in order to elude capture by the police. For the rest of the film, Chiara searches for answers and tries to come to terms with what she’s found out.
What really stood out was the Calabrian law that removes minors from the families of those in the ‘Ndrangheta and sends them to live with families in Northern Italy. While the Mafia, based in Sicily and Camorra, centred in Campania, are open to outsiders joining their ranks, the ‘Ndrangheta relies much more on heredity and family ties. Children of those in the ‘Ndrangheta are regularly working for the gang by the age of ten, delivering messages, hiding drugs, racketeering in the name of their families, etc. Because of the deep family ties in the ‘Ndrangheta, the Calabrian government passed a law that has, in dozens of cases, seen the children of gangsters sent north to live with other families.
In A Chiara, a social worker attempts to enforce this law despite the fact that Chiara’s father hasn’t been convicted of, or even arrested for, anything. The portrayal of this law in action may annoy Italians because it plays on negative prejudices. Contrasting a Southern Italian family that is corrupt and uneducated, with a Northern Italian family that is wealthy, well-spoken and sophisticated falls into a classic stereotype.
Also somewhat troubling is Chiara’s father’s speech when he lays out his life for Chiara. Perhaps it was meant to be self-contradictory, but Claudio brags to Chiara about making a quarter of a million euros in a single drug deal, but then goes on to claim that he has no choice but to do this work in the name of “survival.” He maintains at several points that being part of the ‘Nrangheta ‘is not what you think it is’, and ‘it’s much more complicated than it seems.’ But he never really explains what he means. As a viewer I kept wishing he would. Ultimately, Claudio hints at the complexity of his situation without actually explaining it. We could put this down to the fact that Claudio is quite inarticulate. Perhaps this too was an intentional lacuna, but as a viewer I didn’t feel like I learned anything new about organized crime in Italy.
Chiara’s character is also a bit of a mystery. In the opening she’s just a regular teen, hanging out with friends and trying to avoid being caught smoking. But after her father’s disappearance, she swings between being a naive babe in the woods who’s appalled by what she discovers, and a tough proto-gangster, willing to stick with her family. She’s both shocked by what she learns about her family and also very attached to them. That is a completely understandable contradiction, although the way it is presented here can be disorienting.
The ending throws another wrench into our understanding of Chiara. This is not to say that these swings and shifts could never happen, or that they aren’t inherently believable, but I didn’t feel like they were entirely earned. We don’t know enough about Chiara to follow her emotional journey. Ultimately she seems to be a vehicle for making certain points and showing us certain things rather than a fully-fleshed out character.
The fact, moreover, that Chiara is 15 and has no idea what her father does for a living seems to be a bit of a stretch. The premise of the film is that organized crime is a totally pervasive family business in Calabria, but that the 15 year-old daughter of a gangster, who’s extended family are also immersed in crime, never suspected a thing. The obvious comparison here is with AJ Soprano from The Sopranos, who learns about his father’s mob ties around the age of 13. It seems as though it would be easier to conceal one’s criminal lifestyle in New Jersey than in Calabria. After all, the reason they established a law to separate children from their parents in Calabria was the fact that children in Calabria are indoctrinated at a very early age. This is perhaps true for boys but not girls, but Chiara’s obliviousness still strains credulity.