Trust

Pietro is a respected teacher. Teresa is his student; clever, quick and far ahead of the class. The relationship begins after school ends. It keeps breaking off and starting again. One day Teresa makes a proposal: let each tell the other the most shameful secret of their life, so that neither can leave, because each will hold what could destroy the other. They tell. Then they separate. Over the years Pietro becomes a celebrated educator, marries, writes books, and never forgets that the knowledge sits with someone else. Daniele Luchetti directs. Elio Germano plays Pietro and Federica Rosellini plays Teresa; Vittoria Puccini is also in the cast. The source is Domenico Starnone's novel. The music is by Thom Yorke and the score is the main thing carrying the narrative's tension. The matter the narrative builds is not the confession but the bond it creates; the film does not say what the secret is, all the way to the end. The structure spreads across years; while the narrative follows Pietro's career and family life, that fear stays constant. Elio Germano's playing carries the film, and the character is nowhere sympathetic. Its limit is the ending; the narrative chooses not to disclose the secret, and that choice divides viewers. Who it is for: viewers who like Italian psychological drama and literary adaptation. Who it is not for: the pace is slow, the characters cold, and the narrative gives no answer.