Within the confines of the ancient city of Naples, past and present nestle together. Aside from its ancient traditions, it is also a cosmopolitan, contemporary city and one where different nationalities of immigrants ebb and flow. As the Shadow tells the story of an ordinary young woman who works in a travel agency and out of casual interest begins to attend a Russian class.
Truth be told, she is as much interested in the Russian professor as she is in the language, but her pursuit of him leads to an experience which shocks her out of her everyday routine. The professor, exploiting the woman’s attraction to him, persuades her to look after his beautiful ‘cousin’, supposedly just for a few days, while he is away on a job out of the city. This sparks a subtle, surprising journey for the travel agent, who is plunged into circumstances alien to her and into parts of the city she barely recognises or understands. This is a beautifully made, skilfully executed first feature that takes an unusual and refreshingly non-didactic approach on the issues of European migration. — Adrian Wootton.