Daughter of Mine

A young girl is compelled to choose between her reckless birth mother and the loving but stern woman who has raised her in Laura Bispuri’s Daughter of Mine, a gritty but manipulative melodrama set in an impoverished coastal village on the island of Sardinia. Tina (Valeria Golino) is preparing a party to celebrate the 10th birthday of her adopted daughter Vittoria (Sara Casu), but what promises to be a happy occasion is threatened by the intervention of Angelica (Alba Rohrwacher), the girl’s biological mother, who carelessly gave Vittoria to Tina and her husband as an infant in return for their financial support of her dissolute lifestyle. Now, Angelica’s circumstances have grown desperate: about to lose her ramshackle house, she decides to search for a reputed buried treasure, and enlists Vittoria, whom she has just accidentally met, in the dangerous scheme. Vittoria is attracted by her free-wheeling spirit, leading Tina to worry that she will abandon the family she has known for a life that is superficially more liberating. Bispuri captures a strong sense of place in Daughter of Mine, but despite the evocative locations and committed performances, the calculating plot is very old-fashioned and not much more convincing than a Fannie Hurst novel—or a Hollywood movie based on one. Still, the pluses make this a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)