Undercover Mistress
Alternative Titles: N/A
Director: Giulio Ciancamerla
Year: 2016
Starring: Stefania Visconti, Leonardo Pace, Asia Liguori
Context:
Written by rookie director Giulio Ciancemerla and producer Lucio Massa (who also helped write HIPPOCAMPUS M 21th and VIOLENT SHIT) this short film was made for an estimated budget of 15,000e in 2016.
It stars Cinecittà graduate and transgender model Stefania Visconti (NINA: CRAZY SUICIDE GIRL; TO PARADISE) alongside Leonardo Pace (VIOLENT SHIT) while special Fx are handled by the fantastic David Bracci (SLEEPLESS; EATERS; VIOLENT SHIT).
According to the press release the idea behind Undercover Mistress is a contamination of “gender studies” with “erotic…psychological horror” and as such the film tackles subjects such as sexual identity, harassment and roles within the context of violent revenge.
Synopsis:
During a photo show, a man enjoys scaring a girl until she decides to leave the exhibition. The man runs after her along increasingly dark and isolated streets. A man and a woman? Which one is the dominant genre?
Review:
Opening in a contemporary art gallery a man catches a woman’s eye, if only for a second. Shy and retiring she is clearly too nervous to do anything but steal frequent glances. However she has also caught the eye of another, a sexual predator with the look of disgust and lust written over his face and the pursuit of only one action on his mind.
The performances of Stefania Visconti and Leonardo Pace here are terrific, working without dialogue both are still able to convey the required complex emotions allowing the viewer to innately understand their thought processes. The ability of both helps provide an added level of believability to the films set up.
Now director Ciancamerla has established these, sadly prevalent, social norms he immediately sets about subverting the role of gender while a discordant soundtrack emphasises both the sadistic and non-conventional approach the film takes to tacking its subject matter. It is this 'torture' sequence that is vaguely reminiscent of the way a couple of giallo masters would frame their sexual transgressions as the activity builds up to a disturbing climax that undoubtedly will elicit a reaction from the viewer.
At the most simplest, base level this is an empowered and violent role reversal of the sexes but Ciancamerla imbues the film with so much more complexity for those willing to delve further down the rabbit hole, beyond the preliminary visual layer as he strips away the social concept of gender roles and masculinity in particular as our male (Leonardo Pace) is emasculated rather than dominant.
What we are left with is the realisation that our identities are a performance piece, sometimes for the admiration of others and sometimes for our own gratification at the expense of others. To paraphrase British playwright Shakespeare “All the world's a stage… and one man in his time plays many parts” and this is never truer in UNDERCOVER MISTRESS where our projected self may in fact be very different and our capabilities exceed that of even what we expect when pushed.
A challenging movie that no doubt will alienate many but for a few, it will raise societal questions and realisations as ugly as the violent acts it depicts. The fact that UNDERCOVER MISTRESS will appeal just as much to the arthouse liberal as the horror fan provides verification that the film has succeeded in its objectives perhaps even lending verification to the subjects it tackles.
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Version Reviewed:
We watched an online screener of the 13-minute short film which was at the time was winning several awards on the festival circuit. The film is nicely shot with clean, modern visuals and clear sound.
