The Tearsmith (Fabbricante di lacrime) is an Italian romantic drama based on the novel of the same name by Erin Doom. It is directed by Alessandro Genovesi and the screenplay is adapted along with Eleonora Fiorini. The film has a runtime of about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The story follows Nica and Rigel, whose childhood was marked by the tough reality of growing up in an orphanage. However, once adopted and as they approached adulthood, they began to experience a new and unexpected feeling: an irresistible attraction that pulled them towards each other.
The cast of the film includes Caterina Ferioli as Nica Dover, Simone Baldasseroni as Rigel Wilde, Alessandro Bedetti as Lionel, Roberta Rovelli as Anna, Orlando Cinque as Norman, Sabrina Paravicini as Margaret, Eco Andriolo as Adeline, Nicky Passarella as Billie, Sveva Romana Candelletta as Miki and others.
The Tearsmith Review
In the walls of the Grave orphanage, where Nica grew up, there was always a story told about the maker of tears – a mysterious craftsman responsible for creating all the fears and anxieties in the hearts of men. But at seventeen, Nica is ready to leave behind the fairy tales and chase her dreams. Her biggest wish is about to come true with Mr and Mrs Milligan beginning the adoption process to give her the family she has always longed for.
However, Nica won’t be alone in her new home. Alongside her is Rigel, a troubled and enigmatic orphan who is the last person she’d want as an adoptive brother. Rigel is brilliant, talented, and possesses a dark beauty that captivates those around him. Despite their shared past of pain and hardship, living together seems impossible for Nica and Rigel. Yet, kindness and anger are two sides of the same coin when fighting against pain and concealing their emotions.
As they navigate their complicated relationship, they realize that they are both drawn to each other in a way that goes beyond their past traumas. The legend of the tears-maker becomes a reality as Nica and Rigel must find the courage to accept the love that blossoms between them, even in the midst of their struggles.
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The first thing that comes to mind while watching the film is – the novel would be interesting to read. I am not saying this because I loved the film but rather because I felt disappointed. Seems like they have wasted such a good story by trying to compact it in a certain time frame. Elaborate and layered stories like these can only be justified if adapted into a series, slowly building up their worlds, complex emotions and taking the viewers along in their journey of growing up.
But what we get instead is a fast-paced story swishing around some major events, like it’s nothing. Because of this, the viewers never get the chance to get acquainted with Nica or Rigel or empathise with their emotions. We are always at a distance wondering why are they acting like that, never knowing the complete background behind their actions. The creators, actors etc know the past, present and future of the character they are playing but the audience is only taking things at face value. Thus, even the meaningful scenes and dialogues start to look overly dramatic, confusing and toxic.
The thing that I liked about The Tearsmith is how they treated it visually. Instead of cutting the scenes to show other characters in a scene, they often frame everything in one shot and shift the focus, as they speak. Visually, it looks quite appealing and helps in pulling our focus to each of them equally. They also use the 360-degree camera movement to signify a leap of time or emphasise the emotions that the characters are feeling. It’s a creative visual element that should be incorporated more often in other works.
Secondly, it’s interesting to see how the film unfolds like a play or someone is telling you a story while reading from the book. The narration in Nica’s voice fills in the gaps in the story and leads us to the next part. But at the same time, they try to use literary metaphors and allegories in between dialogues that leave you confused. No matter how amazing they sound on paper, they have to sound proper and make sense when saying it out loud. Thus, my first point comes back – it would be better to read the novel than watch a jumbled-up dramatic adaptation that does nothing justice.
At certain places, Rigel’s character resembles a lot to Nick from the 2023 film Culpa Mia or My Fault. In that film also, step-siblings grow feelings for each other which is quite a cringe to watch. Especially after seeing the male lead’s toxic and obsessive behaviour. Similarly, Rigel often behaves in the same way, treating Nica badly/bullying for no reason and fuming with lust the next minute. However, in The Tearsmith’s case, they aren’t really siblings yet and already have a shared dark history that somewhat makes it okay to root for them to get together. Yet in many ways, it’s a broken relationship that doesn’t seem to do any good to either of them.
Talking about the love interest, it was really baffling to see the character of Lionel become absolutely obsessed with Nica when we don’t even see them together more than once. Once again, with not enough time given to build their worlds, it makes no sense for a new boy to go crazy over a girl, he interacted once. The plotlines that could have helped in giving layers to the story become useless. In final words, The Tearsmith (Fabbricante di lacrime) has the potential to become a popular young adult franchise but this film is not a “good” example of that. If you are intrigued and have time, then grab the book instead.
Rating: 2/5
The Tearsmith is available to watch on Netflix.
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