Sworn Virgin

Identity and gender issues abound in Laura Bispuri’s SWORN VIRGIN. But this intriguing drama is hardly your typical film about sexuality. Hana grew up in the mountains of Northern Albania. To avoid an arranged marriage and to counter second-class citizen status in her brutally chauvinistic village, she adopts the “Kanun code of honor” and agrees to live life as a celibate “man” named Mark. She cuts her hair, binds her breasts, and wears men’s clothing. By his mid-30s, Mark is miserable. He flees the mountains and ends up on the doorstep of his adoptive sister, Lila, in Italy. Lila fled the same village years earlier to marry and have a daughter. With Lila’s help, Mark/Hana (played with soft-spoken grace by Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher) embarks on a search for self. The film is based on the novel by Elvira Dones, whose research included interviewing sworn virgins in Albania. Bispuri favors quiet visual storytelling over noisy dialogue and exposition, weaving strands of Mark/Hana’s past and present into a memorable character study. (In Albanian and Italian with subtitles) –C.O.