Michela Cescon in Primo amore (2004)

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Called “an eating-disorder Pygmalion” by The Village Voice, Matteo Garrone’s Primo amore (2004) is a creepy chronicle of a most dysfunctional romantic relationship. Goldsmith Vittorio (Vitaliano Trevisan) meets Sonia (Michela Cescon) through a newspaper classified and immediately attempts to reshape her in an image he deems more appealing. This neurosis is strange enough, but given the fact that Vittorio wants Sonia to slim down from an already thin 125 pounds, it’s pretty much insane. Garrone captures Cescon’s metamorphosis in exquisite detail, and the flesh-melting transformation is often painful to watch. That said, Cescon does cut loose with some pretty appealing reveals in a film that’s unrepentantly fixated on the body.