Scarlet

Directed by Pietro Marcello (France/Italy, 2022, 100 min.). French with English subtitles.

Pietro Marcello follows up his dramatic breakthrough Martin Eden with this enchanting period fable. Shortly after World War I, a veteran (Raphaël Thiery) returns home from the front lines to find himself a widower and father to an infant daughter. Raised by her father in rural Normandy, the child, Juliette (Juliette Jouan), grows into a lonely young woman who dreams of greater possibilities. She seeks refuge in the nearby woods, where she meets a witch, who promises her that scarlet sails will one day take her away from her village. Reckoning with her future and swept away by a rakish young pilot (Louis Garrel) who literally falls from the sky, Juliette never stops believing in the witch’s prophecy. Tracing Juliette’s journey throughout the 20 years of great invention between the world wars, Scarlet delicately weaves together music and fantasy, history and folklore, realist drama and ethereal romance to craft a timeless story of a young woman’s emancipation.

Watch the trailer.