Dominik Moll
La notte del 12

It is certainly peculiar that the film "La notte del 12", directed by Dominik Moll, was released in Italy towards the end of 2022 without garnering adequate interest from the public and critics. This is especially notable given that, for some time now, the criminal acts categorized as "femicide" have been unfortunately numerous. Yet, the film also brings attention to other themes.

Inspired by a report by Pauline Guena entitled "Une annee a la PJ", the film draws on criminal events that unfold over the course of a year and that are the subject of investigation by the French judicial police. Specifically, it tells the story of a twenty-year-old girl named Clara Royen, residing in a provincial French town, who one evening, returning home from a party with friends, encounters her assailant. In a dimly lit area, he, with his face covered, throws alcohol on her face and sets her on fire. A crime committed brutally and without a clear motive, although it is plausible to suspect that the jealousy of her ex-lover led to such horror.

The fact is that the investigations conducted by the judicial police officers lead to no conclusion. Clara's private life is scrutinized, but all the men who knew her, no matter how vain or odious they may seem, prove to have ironclad alibis concerning that fateful night of the 12th when Clara was brutally killed. Even three years after the crime, the investigators reopen the case without managing to catch the culprit. It's as if this elusive figure acted on behalf of all those men who saw Clara as a woman too free, guilty only of deciding autonomously about her own sexuality.

As I stated before, the theme of femicide is an integral part of the story. But there's also something else, not insignificant. As recalled in the film, in France, 20% of crimes remain unsolved, and these unsolved cases not only languish in the police archives but become a true torment for any conscientious investigator. And if the above-mentioned percentage pertains to the French context, I can only imagine how many unsolved cases ("cold cases") exist here in Italy. Unfortunately, as is well known, Italian reality is also characterized by lengthy judicial processes, along with numerous cases of judicial errors, with innocent people unjustly imprisoned (do the names Pietro Valpreda and Enzo Tortora ring a bell?).

In short, watching a film like "La notte del 12" confirms how the concept of justice is so golden, yet unfortunately managed by those human beings who are anything but perfect (if anything, perfectible) and therefore fallible even if driven by the best intentions. One can only hope that earthly justice meets the highest expectations. For the rest, I unfortunately feel compelled to endorse what Pauline Guena wrote in the report "Une annee a la PJ": "there are crimes that inhabit you, crimes that hurt more than others."