OBSERVER: Diamonds
In Diamonds, director Ferzan Özpetek crafts a love letter to the women he has worked with throughout his career.
The film begins with 18 of Özpetek’s women gathered in a sunny garden in Rome, around a long table piled with food, for a reading of his new work.
This film, the director tells the women, is all about them, a collaboration with all the women he most admires.
Framed at each end by reminiscences in the present, the film within a film takes us back to the 1970s and the costume atelier of the Canova sisters, Alberta, played by Luisa Ranieri, and Gabriella, played by Jasmine Trinca.
The stakes are raised when Oscar-winning designer Bianca Vega (Vanessa Scalera) arrives with a last-minute order of costumes for a big-budget movie.
The atelier will need to work around the clock to finish the order in time.
Designer Stefano Ciammitti’s dazzling costumes are at the heart of the film and are what make it shine.
The camaraderie among the women is on full display as they work together to meet deadlines, creating and fitting exquisite gowns.
Özpetek, Carlotta Corradi and Elsa Casseri’s witty, light-hearted script includes emotional storylines as we get to know each of the women working in the atelier.
The women’s stories are rich and varied, from single mothers to abused wives to young, wide-eyed ingenues.
Costume fittings require careful planning to prevent rival divas, the grande dame of theatre, Alida Borghese (Carla Signoris), and the new movie’s biggest star, Sofia Volpi (Kasia Smutniak), from meeting.
The concluding metatheatrical homage sees Özpetek walk through the empty atelier.
Along with the credits, the director posts a final dedication on screen to three legendary women of Italian cinema, Mariangela Melato, Virna Lisi and Monica Vitti.
Screened as part of the 2025 St Ali Italian Film Festival.
Release date: September 10 at Palace Cinemas. palacecinemas.com.au
Review by Kathryn Keeble