Il Mistero del Lago (2008)
Those Italian adaptations of British-American classics are... unusual. Such is Marco Serafini's film Il Mistero del Lago that was inspired by The Turn of the Screw.
This film suggests from the start that the young governess possessed a special gift: she could see ghosts of the dead! When she was a child, she saw a woman in white on the cliffs by the sea. One dark stormy night, she takes her brother with her to witness the apparition. But the boy can see nothing. Suddenly, he slips and falls into the water. He shouts to his sister for help. She rushes forward, stumbles and falls, breaking her leg. Her little brother drowns.
Now that she is an adult woman, she still sees nightmares about it. But they are growing rarer and rarer, she assures Signor de Dominici. That is a gentleman who hires her as a governess to the two orphaned children, Milo and Flora. Falco de Dominici is their uncle and guardian, but he is sadly limited in his power. By the will of the children's late father, all care of them is given to some Elia, a rude rustic individual who rules it all in the household. Falco de Dominici says that he personally avoids meeting that terrible man, so the heroine has to come alone, but report to him everything that happens by means of letters. The previous governess, Eleonora Petri, is still there, but Elia dismissed that most respectable lady, and Miss Petri is to be replaced with our heroine.
As the governess (her name is Teresa) arrives, she is met in a most unfriendly manner by Elia, two sulky children and a growling Rottweiler dog. For instance, they point it out to her immediately that she is LAME. The good-natured girl seems to take no offence and even finds it in herself to pity her predecessor, the tragic tall woman in black who is so loth to part with 'her' beloved children!
The viewer may be tempted to think that this is the case when the governess comes to 'Bly' (here, a magnificent Italian island) while 'Quint' and 'Miss Jessel' are still alive!
It is not so. Everything is not as it seems. And it is best of all to watch Il Mistero del Lago as a story in its own right. As an adaptation of The Turn of the Screw it is hardly worth anything. As a delicious Gothic mystery (Victoria Holt and such come to my mind), it is very nicely done. This is the thing. The creators of the film were too honest maybe in mentioning Henry James's novella in the titles! :)
The governess Teresa is appealing in her vulnerability: a golden girl who finds herself in a dark, dark Gothic mansion, harbouring some mysterious conflict. The weeping ex-governess Eleonora Petri shouts curses at Elia for the evil he did to the children and to herself. In a short time, the distraught Petri throws herself down into the sea. Teresa is an unwilling witness, unable to reach the woman in time to stop her. Later, she comes to suspect that Petri committed suicide because someone drew her to it.
Meanwhile, she has to find her difficult way in the household that rejects her. The children seem to miss their first governess, quite hostile to the new one, preferring their own secret games (which involve painting each other's faces with dirt and intoning a strange litany). One of the maids takes an instant dislike to Teresa and is too ready to pronounce the governess crazy as that one begins to see Miss Petri's ghost. And the caretaker Elia is too familiar with the young lady: her insists on calling her Teresa, not Signorina Adriani, and treats her altogether without any overdue respect. At some moment I came to be genuinely afraid that the poor girl would be raped in some dark corner.
Only Signora Grossi (Barbara Wussow) seems friendly enough, despite her forbidding appearance.
But she is not ready to stand up for Teresa if everything points out that the girl is mad. No one but the governess can hear footsteps and strange singing at night; no one but her sees Miss Petri's ghost.
As if that were not enough, we soon learn that there is a cave nearby where satanic rites have been performed. More troubling events: as the heroine ventures into the town to buy something, she notices a stranger watching her and the children...
So many mysteries! But at the end, everything will be solved, leaving no loose ends.
The actors
Ana Caterina Morariu (Teresa) is very lovely indeed and makes one feel sorry for her, especially when she is unjustly accused. She creates an image of a very tender, gentle, compassionate girl.
The cameramen exploit her extraordinary beauty to the full. Here is Teresa/lamp and other beautiful shots:
Her silouette
Lorenzo Flaherty who played 'the rustic' Elia seemed to me too 'well-fed' for the part, but it is just my personal dislike for this type of faces. The actor surely portrays his complex character successfully.
An amusing fact is that Simona Borioni (Eleonora Petri) confesses that the role of the ghostly governess was very challenging for her, as in real life she is terribly afraid of... ghosts!
The kids are just kids, very small. They seem six or seven to me.
The film is very bright, with beautiful photography. The music by Alessandro Molinari creates a fitting mood (sometimes so drrramatic!).
Even if you hate it all, the redeeming feature of the film will surely be the breathtaking beauty of the scenery.
It was filmed at the lakes Trasimeno and Bolsena. Certain scenes were filmed at some villas and at the little islands of the lakes: the isle of Polvese in the lake Trastimeno and the private island of Bisentina (with the permission of its owner, the beautifully-named princess who graciously let the filming group to work there).
I could not find many critical reviews on the web, official or otherwise. I hope mine will be of use to someone.
All the facts about the filming I found here and here ... The latter document, from the official Mediaset site, has been most helpful, with lots of interesting trivia and facts.
It is a very nice film. Yes, 'nice' is the word. Personally, it gave me a respite from the depressing horrors of some other adaptations. I liked it quite well as a story in its own right, especially as it is the only version where the boy (spoiler) stays alive.