Black Sea

Gemma is a difficult older Italian lady, a recent widow in psychological and physical pain. Angela is a sweet-tempered younger Romanian lady who has left her husband behind to make money in Italy. She becomes Gemma's caretaker, withstanding her tongue-lashings while struggling to understand her adopted country. Angela's calm determination to save enough money to allow her to have a baby brings back Gemma's memories of post-war Italy, when she made sacrifices for her own son and when her country was in much the same position as Angela's is now. Thus, the two disparate women, each lonely in her own way, find they have more in common than expected, and soon they are quite dependent on each other. When Angela gets word that her husband has disappeared, she's anxious to go home and look for him. Gemma selfishly demands that she stay. But soon Gemma's affection for her young friend wins her over and she insists on accompanying Angela on a road trip to Romania, where the Danube empties into the BLACK SEA. The film is a tour-de-force by veteran actress Ilaria Occhini, and by rising star of Romanian cinema Dorotheea Petre. (In Italian and Romanian with English subtitles) – BB