Amusia is the name of a rare disease. It is the inability to listen to music. This is the narrative trigger for first-time director Marescotti Ruspoli who builds a delicate and intriguing love story around it.

The setting is a surreal, neat and harmonious village in central Italy where the straight lines of fascist architecture frame every sequence. In the village there is a love hotel where rooms are rented by the hour, a light blue building called Sogni – Dreams – where the main character lives, and a lonely bar. Through the astonishing cinematography of Italian DOP Luca Bigazzi (La grande bellezza), the film develops a breath-taking visual style that gives a life of its own to the buildings and their spaces.

It is in this warm and retro atmosphere, where each colour is meaningful, that two beautiful young characters meet. He is the receptionist at the love hotel, a dreamer with a great passion for music, and she is a mysterious young woman with something to hide, looking for a room.

Conveying the style of the film is the incredible Fanny Ardant, in the role of the mother of the girl – with her seductive allure and charismatic look, she could not be more appropriate. This is a film worth watching to get to know a very young director with a clear auteur vision.

Malaika Bova