Italian director Pietro Marcello made a splash at the 2019 Venice Film Festival with the Jack London adaptation “Martin Eden.” That film about an idealistic man’s sentimental and moral education at the turn of the 20th century, distributed in the U.S. by Kino Lorber, more or less introduced the talents of heartthrob Luca Marinelli to Western audiences. Now, Marcello is partnering with the U.S. distributor once more, this time turning his camera on the story of a woman’s coming of age, with “Scarlet.” The cast includes Raphaël Thiéry, Louis Garrel, and newcomer Juliette Jouan. IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer for the film, which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, below.
Per the official synopsis, shortly after World War I, veteran Raphaël (Raphaël Thiéry) returns home from the frontlines to find himself a widower and father to an infant daughter. Raised by her father in rural Normandy, the child Juliette (Juliette Jouan) grows into a lonely young girl who is passionate about singing and music and dreams of greater possibilities. She seeks refuge in the nearby woods, where she meets a witch who promises scarlet sails will one day take her away from her village. Reckoning with her future and swept away by a rakish young pilot (Louis Garrel) who literally falls from the sky, Juliette never stops believing in the witch’s prophecy. Tracing Juliette’s journey throughout the 20 years of great invention between the world wars, “Scarlet” delicately weaves together music and fantasy, history and folklore, realist drama and ethereal romance to craft a timeless story of a young woman’s emancipation.
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film “a fascinating, slippery movie filled with lyrical beauty, acts of barbarism, moments of magic and unexpected hope… As he did in ‘Martin Eden,’ Marcello takes an expansive, visually adventurous approach to a story about people and the historical forces that define, imprison and sometimes liberate them.”
Scarlet is written by Marcello, Maurizio Braucci, and Maud Ameline from the 1923 Russian novel by Alexander Grin.
Marcello’s previous film “Martin Eden” received multiple nominations at the 2021 Gotham Independent Film Awards after it was released in the United States. The film also won Marinelli the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 2019 Venice Film Festival.
Kino Lorber opens “Scarlet” in New York on June 9, with more dates to follow nationwide.
