Venezia 81 Picks: Giulia Steigerwalt's Layered, Humane and Reprimanding Diva Futura.

Although I made it clear in my ‘Venezia 81’ introductory piece that the order in which I was going to publish my reviews was not in accordance with my mental ranking of the films, my unparalleled enthusiasm for these first two cinematic works got the best of me, and so I will be following my eager review of Folie à Deux with an equally ardent inquiry into Giulia Steigerwalt’s didactic and introspective Diva Futura. Having granted me an even more satisfying viewing experience than Folie à Deux, as I walked into the screening with high hopes that were ultimately fulfilled, I can say with confidence that Diva Futura was one of my favourite competing films. I attribute my strong affinity for Steigerwalt’s piece to its progressive take on a controversial subject matter whilst still considering the ethical implications and shortcomings of the porn industry which Diva Futura’s storyline centres on. Steigerwalt’s balanced approach to narrative filmmaking guides and allows the viewer to form an opinion on a taboo and delicate reality, essentially granting her audience a developmental and enriching filmic experience. 

The definitive take on adult films that Steigerwalt hopes for spectators to adopt, is one that does not dismiss pornography as being plainly lewd if its production is controlled and lawful, urging us to realise that like every industry it creates job roles and responds to consumer and market demands. However, moral lines have become blurred with the recent democratisation of pornography that sees the internet giving masses the opportunity to create, publish and comment on content themselves, and thus, it is this newfound independence that facilitates the production and dissemination of exploitful, illicit and dangerous material. This abstraction is most proficiently exhibited through the metaphorical significance of Riccardo Schicchi’s pet snake. Attributable to its negative portrayal in religious texts, serpent imagery tends to be associated with notions such as immorality, sin and evil. As Schicchi’s snake is one of the first ‘characters’ we are introduced to in Diva Futura, the creature is immediately perceived as an extension of Schicchi and his work, which we have been taught to discern as twisted and perverse. Yet, the same way a snake sheds its skin to accommodate growth, throughout the film Schicchi labours to create a secure, consensual and empowering working environment with the hope of stripping his industry of the stigma surrounding it. Hence, the death of the beloved animal marks the end of the sector’s era of betterment and burgeoning. 

Steigerwalt also rightfully devotes screentime to the humanisation of the three women who dominated Italian porn in the 80s and 90s. We make Moana, Ilona and Eva’s acquaintance so ostensibly à la Henry Hill. The formal parallel between Diva Futura and Goodfellas automatically assigns the women the same authority, ambition and shrewdness distinct to Henry, but at the same time could potentially criminalise and taint their character, which I identify as being the only flaw in an otherwise well-crafted film. Additionally, Steigerwalt’s purposeful manipulation of Diva Futura’s narrative timeline seizes a harsh truth of the women’s lives. Although we accompany Schicchi in a linear manner from his childhood, to the creation of his empire and eventual death, when it comes time to interact with Moana, Ilona or Eva, we are almost always brought back in the years, alluding to the idea that once women enter the adult film industry, they unfortunately find extreme difficulty to break away from their hyper-sexualised image and advance in both their personal lives and careers. With this in mind, Steigerwalt’s Diva Futura embraces a gendered undertone besides its obvious and more broad social motive, inviting us to commiserate the women who despite being the backbone of an industry always end up receiving the short end of the stick.