Identification of a Woman 1982

Niccolò is a film director living in Rome. He has just divorced and lives alone. His only family is his sister, a gynecologist, and her little son. By chance Mavi becomes one of his sister’s patients, a beautiful young aristocrat, and the two start a passionate affair.

The relationship soon draws a threatening shadow. He receives a warning to leave Mavi, and though he tries to ignore it, he soon finds himself under constant surveillance. The allure of Mavi’s world—her blue-blood ties and her old social circles—is unsettling for him, who already feels outside of that orbit. Meanwhile, his sister, who seems poised to lead the gynecology department, learns that she has been passed over for the job. Niccolò suspects a connection to the blackmailer who is watching him, and the sense of danger grows with the daily, creeping surveillance.

Driven by fear and a hunger for stability, he persuades Mavi to retreat to an old country farmhouse he had rented in the past. The journey there, shrouded in fog, becomes a tense, traumatic ride, and a violent quarrel erupts between them. By morning, Mavi has vanished. Back in Rome, the only friend she has left is reluctant to speak, and she hints at a secret life: Mavi is bisexual and has a jealous past lover. The mystery deepens as Niccolò tries to piece together what happened, while the threat lingers like a shadow over every step he takes.

In search of companionship and genuine affection, he crosses paths with a young stage actress, Ida, who is slim, athletic, and unpretentious—a stark contrast to Mavi’s enigmatic aura. Ida is drawn to the country and to him, open and straightforward, yet she also senses his fixation on Mavi and the blackmailer. She offers warmth, but she also becomes entangled in the unresolved tension of Mavi’s absence. Ida quickly uncovers a trail that could lead to Mavi’s whereabouts. One night, hidden on the stairs beyond her sight, Niccolò overhears Mavi confess to the flatmate that she must stay hidden from him—an admission that deepens his sense of loss and danger.

Eventually, he reaches a point of acceptance: Mavi is unlikely to return. He and Ida begin to share a more conventional romance, taking a trip to Venice for a slow, romantic holiday. In the middle of this new turn, Ida receives a call from her Rome-based doctor—she is pregnant. The news fills her with happiness and hope, but Niccolò’s response is more complicated; he does not feel ready to raise another person’s child, and the prospect unsettles him.

Back in Rome, the director-narrator contemplates his future film, mulling over a visionary idea: a spaceship built from asteroid material that could draw near the sun. He recalls telling his young nephew about space travel, and the child’s innocent question that follows. The memory lingers as a quiet counterpoint to the turmoil of his own life, leaving him to ponder whether understanding the sun’s true nature might reveal the wider truths of life, love, and the universe.

The day mankind understands what the sun is made of and its power, perhaps we’ll understand the entire universe and the reasons behind so many things.

And then?