For years, it has been assumed that domestic violence was common in developing countries like India, with its grinding poverty, alcoholism and the resultant frustration. These may not have been the only causes, but they certainly were the most significant. But an Italian film, There’s Still Tomorrow, has revealed that violence within the four walls of a home is also prevalent in Italy, a developed country.
This movie has been so popular with the Italians that it has taken the country by storm, and its box-office numbers will seemingly surpass those of Barbie. There’s Still Tomorrow opens with a disturbing scene. Delia (essayed by actress/director Paola Cortellesi) is sleeping next to her husband, Ivano (Valerio Mastandrea), and when she wakes up, he gives her a tight slap. She appears unperturbed, at least seemingly so. The slap must have hurt her, but such abuse has become part of her daily routine.
In black-and-white, the film begins with a line which says that marital problems began when men and women stopped marrying their cousins. Her father-in-law quips that his wife lived like a queen, but Delia gently reminds him that she died by suicide. “And rightly so,” she adds, her voice reeking of sarcasm.
In an interview, Cortellesi said, “As a child, I remember the stories my grandma and great grandma would tell me about other women who lived in the same courtyard in their neighbourhood, women like Delia who would be subjected to violence, maybe beaten up by their husbands or relatives. What shocked me was how this tragic thing was considered to be normal. For these women, it was daily life. But they always tell these stories with a touch of irony, of humour. It’s a Roman thing, we people from Rome, even when we talk about the most tragic events, we tend to tell them with a smile and a joke.”
“This is a contemporary movie. It’s set in the past, but it’s about the female condition, and the roots of this patriarchal culture go deep. They are rooted in the past, but they are still very present today,” she added.
The film has been a runaway success with the cash registers grossing $33.4 million. This is second only to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. In a way, There’s Still Tomorrow tops with 4.49 million theatrical admissions.
“There’s Still Tomorrow has also rekindled discussions about domestic violence, femicide and women’s rights in Italy, debates that dominated public discourse since the shocking kidnapping and murder last month of the 22-year-old student, Giulia Cecchettin, and the arrest of her boyfriend for the crime,” said the director.
The director continued, “I’ve been attending screenings, introducing the movie and talking about it with the audiences afterwards, and people come to me and they share their stories of violence of abuse, or just discrimination, unfair treatment. There’s this wish and desire to discuss a subject that was just there waiting to be talked about. This film kind of triggered the debate.”
On November 25, the movie was shown in the Italian Senate to mark the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. There have been screenings for schoolchildren across the country.
“It has nothing to do with politics, but with people being fed up with the current situation, where a woman in Italy is killed every 72 hours just because she is a woman, killed by her boyfriend or partner,” added Cortellesi. “This isn’t a new statistic, but one that’s been constant through different governments, left and right. People are fed up of hearing this same story over and over again. They want to do something to help change the culture. To break this circle of violence,” she said.
Cinema is a very powerful medium. It may help usher in a social change, even a social revolution. Yes, there is still tomorrow. There is still hope. Indeed!
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