DICIANNOVE by Giovanni Tortorici

This debut film by young Sicilian director Giovanni Tortorici—produced by Luca Guadagnino—is a small, independent gem. Capturing the complexity of being 19 years old is never easy and often results in one-dimensional portrayals, but this film excels at presenting its characters as believable and authentic in their inconsistencies, clumsiness, and immaturity.

The film’s portrayal of reality stands out for its seemingly inconsequential dialogues, which serve to define the characters and its aimless events that reflect the nature of adolescence. The story follows Leonardo, a young man from Palermo who initially joins his sister to study Business in London but then drops out to study Literature in Siena. Introverted and passionate about pre-19th century literature—when the language was still ‘pure’—Leonardo navigates the typical life of a student: renting small, untidy rooms, experiencing occasional drunkenness, dealing with unexpected sexual tensions, facing early university exams, and struggling to form friendships. Siena, with its compact medieval architecture and introverted atmosphere, becomes the ideal backdrop for Leonardo’s inner world—detached, slow, occasionally melancholic, always in flux.

Though nothing significant happens throughout it, the film’s vivid portrayal makes everything feel significant. Everything seems to contribute to reflecting on how it feels to be 19. Despite being a debut, Tortorici handles cinematic language effectively—using shaky, subjective shots to mirror the protagonist’s perspective, along with outdated zoom techniques, still frames, and creative editing. The screenplay is meticulously crafted, leaving many narrative lines unfinished, either abandoned or diverted by the unpredictability of life. It features disconnected situations, characters who appear and disappear without introduction, incomplete thoughts, and jumps through times and places, creating a simple yet authentic realism that is both relatable and endearing. The film evokes the lo-fi naturalism of early 2000s European cinema, particularly the Dardenne brothers or early Mia Hansen-Løve, but always filtered through a distinctly Italian sensibility—dry, intelligent, never sentimental.

The film remains evasive even when addressing sexual identity. What might initially suggest homoerotic curiosity and development suddenly shifts in direction as the protagonist is seen kissing girls in a club or masturbating, looking at female nudity in Pasolini’s Salò. The presence of Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma, shown briefly on a laptop screen, serves both as an icon of transgression and as a generational artefact—Leonardo doesn’t watch it for shock, but out of a kind of historical curiosity, typical of someone who’s intellectually hungry but emotionally inexperienced. One may wonder how Tortorici’s ability to weave together coherent circumstances and events without a clear narrative comes from, and the answer is that it is rooted in the film’s autobiographical nature, reflecting his 19-year-old self from the perspective of his current age, 28.

Set in 2015—which is shown by the lack of smartphones and omnipresent apps and the protagonist’s search for Justin Bieber’s naked photos recently taken on vacation—places the past close enough for critical and affectionate reflection yet distant enough for thoughtful examination. This particular pop-cultural reference—a real event that went viral in late 2015 after paparazzi photos of Bieber circulated online—acts not just as a time-stamp, but as an indicator of how desire, gossip, and internet culture shaped youth in the years just before the full algorithmic saturation of everyday life.

If this well-crafted screenplay convinced Guadagnino to produce it, the film will likely captivate audiences and draw them further into this young filmmaker’s journey. Diciannove premiered at the Critics’ Week section of the 2025 Venice Film Festival, receiving strong early reviews for its formal control and narrative looseness, and is already generating attention on the European independent circuit. Tortorici has stated in interviews that the film was shot in just 18 days on a micro-budget, using real student flats and casting largely unknown non-professional actors for minor roles, adding to the film’s stripped-down realism.