La vergine folle

Set against the austere backdrop of post‑World War I Italy, "La vergine folle" follows the tragic odyssey of Elena (Enta Troubetskoy), a young woman whose unbridled passions and unorthodox desires brand her a heretic in the eyes of a rigid, patriarchal society. When a clandestine affair with the charismatic but tormented poet Marco (Andrea Habay) erupts, Elena's world spirals into a vortex of jealousy, betrayal, and self‑destruction. The narrative weaves through opulent aristocratic salons, decaying convent walls, and the stark alleys of a provincial town, each setting reflecting a facet of Elena's fractured psyche. As rumors of her alleged madness proliferate, she is alternately venerated as a saintly martyr and reviled as a dangerous temptress. The film culminates in a harrowing tableau where Elena, driven to the brink by societal condemnation and personal loss, confronts the very notion of purity that has been weaponized against her, leaving the audience to ponder the thin line between sanctity and insanity.