Italian Film Fest 2025 Review - Diamonds
Images courtesy of the 2025 Italian Film Festival.
The St Ali Italian Film Festival returns to Melbourne this September with a stacked schedule. The Melbourne leg of the festival started with a preview of Ferzan Özpetek’s new film Diamonds, of which I had the pleasure of attending an advanced screening.
Diamonds is set in Italy during the 1970s. The film introduces sisters Gabriella (Jasmine Trinca) and Alberta (Luisa Ranieri) who run a fashion house with the help of an ensemble of other seamstresses. The film unfolds around the women working to create costuming for a renowned designer and uses the main dress as a representation of their teamwork and transformation. Originally, I was sceptical of the ambition Özpetek had to integrate so many character narratives considering the main cast includes close to ten women. However, each character shines and enriches the story so much more than if the focus remained solely on the sisters.
The film opened with Özpetek himself gathering the various actresses for a table read before shifting into the narrative. In a way, this eased you into the dynamics of the characters, as it embraces the witty and affectionate banter that will later become one of the cornerstones of this film. Diamonds is about ambition, love and community. It celebrates the many hands that sew our lives together and work to create the art we pride ourselves on as a society.
The story and acting are certainly the hook of the film: snarky and brilliant performances offered by each actress formulate an extremely heartfelt connection between audience and character. Özpetek invites you into a tight-knit team that protects and supports each other. He recreates a small pocket of Italian history and, basically, writes a love letter to the women behind the scenes. However, with so many stories, it skims the dot points of each one without truly focusing on any in particular which is, obviously, a sacrifice that had to be made considering the sheer amount of main cast members.
In terms of technical aspects, the cinematography can be overstimulating between some long tracking shots and excessive movement of such a large cast. It adds up very quickly. I particularly admired the set and costume design, considering the effort and detail that clearly went into the film. The film included numerous prop costumes in addition to the cast’s costuming, with the crowning jewel being the finale dress which is truly a vision from costume designer Stefano Ciammitti (who some might recognise Ciammitti’s work from The Law According to Lidia Poët). The set is similarly expertly tailored to build a vibrant and intricate world that easily guides you into the warmth of the relationships between the characters.
There are certainly enough qualities to warrant the positive reception the film has received since its release. Most of the praise is rightly deserved, but it remains within the confines of ordinary. This is a good old-fashioned heartwarming film that celebrates family and community.
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Diamonds is screening as part of the 2025 Italian Film Festival, running from the 19th of September till Thursday the 26th of October. For tickets and more info, click here.