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There are five stills from Roberta Torre's Italian-French dramatic thriller Dark Sea (Mare nero) on the website of production company Cattleya S.p.A..
Distribution rights for Dark Sea are being offered for sale by Adriana Chiesa Enterprises s.r.l. (A.C.E.) at the Marché du Film in Cannes. The movie is being screened at the Star 4 on Thursday May 18 at 5:30 p.m. (17:30), at the Star 1 on Saturday May 20 at 4:00 p.m. (16:00), and at the Star 1 on Tuesday May 23 at 10:00 a.m. (10:00).
The screenplay for Dark Sea was written by Torre in collaboration with Heidrun Schleef, based on a story by Torre, Marcello Siena, and Andrea Piva in collaboration with Andrea Di Stefano. The movie stars Luigi Lo Cascio as Luca, Anna Mouglalis as Veronica, Maurizio Donadoni as Sabino, Andrea Osvárt as Valentina Martini, Massimo Popolizio as Laganà, Monica Samassa as Monica, and Rossella D'Andrea as Andrea.
Below is a synopsis for Dark Sea from A.C.E.'s website.
A murder, just one news item like so many others. For police inspector Luca, busy helping his beautiful girlfriend Veronica move in with him, it should be nothing more than a routine call at an inconvenient time. But Luca is scrupulously devoted to his job and has a special sensitivity that sets him apart from his colleagues and their impassive cynicism. This is also what made Veronica want to commit herself so quickly to a relationship with him. She didn't think twice about enthusiastically accepting to move from her native France to Italy to live with him.
Though still young and not yet put through significant tests, their love is strong and shows all the signs typical of a very intense, exclusive bond. The call, however, puts Luca onto a case that immediately has a disturbing effect on him, as it absorbs him more than any case he has ever dealt with before: Valentina, a beautiful young woman, barely out of her teens, has been mysteriously murdered in her off-campus flat. For Luca, this is the start of an investigation that soon oversteps the bounds of duty, creeping into his private life and making a way into the obscure areas of his relationship with Veronica. Though Luca had always tried to keep his work separate from his personal life, this particular investigation seems to slip often into his conversations with his partner. From the start, the investigation does not seem to be very promising. Valentina seems to be no more than a fleeting image that testimonies by friends and family cannot fully grasp: a model student, yet a restless frequenter of dangerous circles. Against the backdrop of a sprawling and composite metropolis, Luca quickly ventures into the tortuous life of a clandestine night spot. Its atmosphere charged with a grotesque sensuality numbs him with its hallucinatory undercurrents, and he is finally led into venturing into sex clubs where couple-swapping is practiced. In the meantime, his relationship with Veronica has also taken an unexpected turn. As a real estate agent, Veronica is very often in contact with unknown men, showing them empty apartments. The suggestive image of his girlfriend in the company of strangers begins to turn into an obsessive erotic fantasy for Luca, leading to a crescendo of provocative games that Veronica, though with some qualms, agrees to play along to.
The investigation underway comes to a standstill and it seems that, unless there is some unexpected development, the mystery of Valentina's death will remain unsolved. Nevertheless, acting without the knowledge and consent of his supervisors, Luca pursues his research. Increasingly obsessed by the image of Valentina, he continues to infiltrate into the circles once frequented by her. He does this even without having the investigation as a pretext. It is as if, since the very beginning of the case, he is trying to uncover something that affects him very closely. He continues his investigation recklessly, fiercely, totally abandoning his sense of duty or any ethical principles, until he goes beyond his own limits. Incapable of any resistance, Luca slips into the delirium of a circle of Hell. He lives a series of extreme experiences, no longer able to distinguish what is real and what is a figment of his feverish imagination. Perhaps it is all a dream - or more precisely a nightmare - filled with fantasies, visions and haunting images. Like a dark sea, devoid of light, with no way out. Perhaps it is only a dream, from which one cannot wake up. Or perhaps not.
Cattleya: Dark Sea (w/ 5 stills)
A.C.E.: Dark Sea