“City of Salt” by Alicia Farmer

“City of salt” by Alicia Farmer is a shining example of contemporary genre cinema. Traditionally linked to this kind of narrative, American cinema often knows how to surprise us. Yet Farmer’s film goes even further, reaching the heights of humanity and stylistic mastery that not only give us a splendid film full of twists, but also a complex work that deserves to be explored in every aspect. The ways in which the contemporary mixes with the narrative tradition are the real key to this film. As the investigation of the protagonists goes deeper, we realize that we are sinking into something bigger. It is the most fragile and dark America that slowly reveals itself and in this long journey the director brings us with strength and lucid gaze, among the hottest themes of contemporary American society. To support this investigation, this “descent into the shadows”, there is a narrative structure with a classic taste, which gives the film an atmosphere of gloomy charm, expanding the suggestions towards a past of literary and cinematographic works of undoubted reference.

This film is a kind of universe, within which the feelings and passions of the current youth and the heavy baggage of the older ones come together, in a generational clash that often proves to be anything but destructive. And more, the film leads us relentlessly to the discovery of a vast territory, whose boundaries start from the depths of each individual’s soul to the most remote corners of a large American city. The director’s gaze builds the path with a dry, essential and powerful style, in the way of capturing the deepest details and nuances. The stylistic mastery of the author extends to the musical choice, which includes pieces of various genres and composes a real sound texture that supports the most exciting moments of the film. In fact, nothing is left to chance, and every aspect of the film contributes to evoking a complicated world, sometimes tender and sometimes merciless. The thriller genre, in the hands of Alicia Farmer, becomes pure human matter and takes the forms of a new world that struggles to emancipate itself and to make the truth triumph.  A pure vibrant new voice.

A praise to the cast and the protagonists, capable of conveying much more than an emotion: a sense of realism that worries and fascinates.