The Dark Sea (2006)
"Mare nero" (original title)

The girlfriend of Detective Luca Mocci moves from the house of her friend Charlotte to live with him. When the corpse of the upper-class escort and student Valentina Martini is found in an ... See full summary »

Director:

Roberta Torre

Writers:

Massimo D'Anolfi, Roberta Torre

Stars:

Luigi Lo Cascio, Anna Mouglalis, Maurizio Donadoni

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Luigi Lo Cascio	...	Luca
Anna Mouglalis	...	Veronica
Maurizio Donadoni	...	Sabino
Massimo Popolizio	...	Laganà
Andrea Osvárt	...	Valentina Martini
Monica Samassa	...	Monica
Rossella D'Andrea	...	Andrea
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Malèna Tornatore

Storyline

The girlfriend of Detective Luca Mocci moves from the house of her friend Charlotte to live with him. When the corpse of the upper-class escort and student Valentina Martini is found in an apartment, tied and beaten after a kinky sex, Detective Mocci becomes obsessed with his investigation in the underworld of sex in his city, arising dark desires and affecting his relationship with his girlfriend.

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Plot Keywords:

sex | corpse | underworld | female frontal nudity | oral sex | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

25 August 2006 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Karanlik deniz

Filming Locations:

Naples, Campania, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cattleya, Babe Film, Rai Cinemafiction

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Full of style, low on narrative

This stylish tour de force is a beauty to watch. I must admit that I don't, for one second, believe that Italian police stations are decked out in minimalist/modernist furniture and Italian detectives get around like Paul Smith models, but there is definitely something appealing in suspending disbelief to look at beautiful things.

David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks appear to have been a huge influence for this. The film reads like a beautiful coffee table book on modernist furniture/photography. The leads are gorgeous and the lighting and cinematography sublime. There is also a huge amount of sexual expression, again done in a beautifully stylish manner that allows us to be the voyeur without feeling like we are watching cheap porn or tacky Hollywood T & A.

Unfortunately, the storyline is confused. I get the distinct feeling that this film would've made sense had the editing been less brutal (but I could be totally wrong and perhaps the script is non-sensical). By the end I was wondering what the hell was going on (although I didn't care that much because it looked so great). Perhaps something was lost in translation? The story gets to the point where the viewer thinks they have 'got it', then it ends up on a tangent. Perhaps this is deliberate and we are asked to fill in the gaps ourselves, which is another Lynchian throw back ...

If you like looking at Vogue fashion shoots, you will love this ...