[Ruby Hornet will be attending the 49th Chicago International Film Festival from 10/10 – 10/24. Be sure to follow along as we bring you coverage from the longest-running competitive international film festival in the country. You can find all of our coverage from this year’s CIFF here.]
Miele
Director: Valeria Golino
Country: Italy
Release Date: October 15, 2013 (CIFF)
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Miele is a young woman who delivers assisted suicides for families whose loved ones want to dictate how they die rather than succumb to the prolonged process of death. When she’s assigned to assist a wealthy, physically healthy man, she has a change of morality and does what she can to prevent the man from killing himself. Will she be able to deal with the moral conflict the assignment presents while she deals with her own personal problems?
I was expecting Miele to be this cerebral character study analyzing the conscience of a young woman who essentially kills people for a living. The problem with going into films with expectations is that, nine times out of 10, those expectations are never met. Miele did touch upon the psychology conflicting the protagonist’s mind, but also muddies it all up with a sexual affair she has as a means of balancing her “professional” life with her “personal” life. What results is a film that feels like it’s attempting to do and say too much in a limited space.
Score: 
5 out of 10