This Italian drama, set in the 1950s and starring Lily James, Willem Dafoe and Joe Keery, sends a star-struck naïf through the looking glass darkly.
In “Finally Dawn,” a black-and-white World War II playing onscreen gives way to a richly hued scene of sisters Mimosa (Rebecca Antonaci), Iris (Sofia Panizzi) and their mother, Elvira (Carmen Pommella), sitting in a Roman cinema arguing the merits of Italian neorealism versus Hollywood’s star-dusted fare.
As the three women leave the theater, a man approaches and proposes that the Iris audition as an extra for an American-produced sand-and-sandal epic filming at Cinecittà studios. The writer and director Saverio Costanzo sets this movie about the movies and their allure in the 1950s, a period when Cinecittà was called Hollywood on the Tiber.
If Iris’s future brightens, Mimosa’s appears to dim. But after a bit of dumb luck and a series of backlot mishaps, Mimosa becomes a “featured extra.” And soon she is swept up into the world of the movie star Josephine Esperanto (Lily James), her self-serious co-star Sean Lockwood (Joe Keery), the up-and-coming starlet Nan Roth (Rachel Sennott) and Josephine’s confidant, Rufus Priori (Willem Dafoe).
Casting an inky shadow over Mimosa’s long night — which resembles an abduction as much as it does an adventure — is the recent discovery of a dead actress. This is the director’s nod to the 1953 murder of Wilma Montesi, a 21-year-old woman, which captivated the Italian press. The death is also a wink toward Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita.” “Finally Dawn” is at its most intriguing as Costanzo entrusts his curly haired, wide-eyed naïf to maneuver the looking glass of Italian versus Hollywood cinema. Hint: Italy comes off more soulful.
Finally Dawn
Not rated. In English and Italian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 59 minutes. In theaters.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
