Courtesy of Oscilloscope

As its title implies, Alice Rohrwacher’s captivating new film The Wonders is infused with a sense of discovery and marvel. Set in the Tuscan countryside, this atmospheric, closely observed narrative centers around the hardscrabble life of a bee-keeping family, as experienced mainly through oldest daughter Gelsomina (Maria Alexandra Lungu). On the brink of adolescence, the girl is torn between the insular existence of her hard-headed father and the pull of the outside world. The latter appears in the form of a seductive reality show called Countryside Wonders and the arrival of a silent, troubled boy who is taken in by the family.

While the film isn’t autobiographical, Rohrwacher grew up in this part of Italy, worked in honey production, and is of Italian-German descent, like her onscreen family. Her familiarity with this milieu is obvious, especially in realistic scenes of bee handling – which include alarmingly dense swarms around real hives — and honey-making. The apiary details of The Wonders are fascinating enough, but then there’s the roughly beautiful Tuscan countryside and the family itself: Idealistic, bad-tempered Wolfgang (Sam Louwyck) and exasperated, affectionate Angelica (Alba Rohrwacher, Alice’s sister) are the parents; sensitive, determined Gelsomina, comical but vulnerable Marinella (Agnese Graziani), and two uninhibited little girls who frolic half-naked like gleeful colts, are the kids. There’s also their longtime lodger Coco (Sabine Timoteo), a scrappy youngish woman. They live in an old, rambling, somewhat makeshift house, and are all involved to some degree with Wolfgang’s apiary, especially Gelsomina, who is clearly comfortable handling bees and has a talent for managing them.

Courtesy of Oscilloscope

Thus she is her father’s main helper, whether smoking and opening hives or changing heavy honey buckets. One day while relaxing on the beach, the family comes upon the filming of an Etruscan-themed reality show, starring the goddess-like Milly Catena (Monica Bellucci, well cast). Unlike his neighbors, Wolfgang is disgusted by the show’s premise — local farm families competing for prize money — and the possibility that it will draw tourists to the region. Gelsomina, intrigued by the glamorous Milly and cognizant of her family’s financial and legal struggles (their honey facilities are not up to code), secretly enters the competition. She is in many ways the family’s most sensible, pragmatic member, and she bears the most responsibility when things go wrong or accidents occur, as they inevitably do. Around this time, her family welcomes sullen young Martin, a 14-yr-old foster child they’ve taken in for money and to help with the apiary. The family dynamic changes, as Wolfgang – who is often teased about having four daughters – shifts some of Gelsomina’s work to Martin, much to her dismay. It’s clear, though, that her own needs and desires have been shifting, as she becomes aware of the possibility of escaping the family’s way of life.

Courtesy of Oscilloscope

A deeply impressionistic film about a particular region of Italy and a disappearing lifestyle, The Wonders doesn’t have a tidily resolved plotline, nor are its characters neatly delineated types. The acting, especially on the part of the kids, is very naturalistic, notably newcomer Lungu, whose young face expresses all the pent-up emotions of adolescence. Adding to the film’s loose vibe are Rohrwacher’s lingering camera shots of the countryside with its craggy shoreline and mysterious caves, and unorthodox camera angles that hover around the scene’s human subjects, giving us a palpable sense of place. The Wonders has a warm,  intoxicating ambiance that lingers long after the film is over.

The Wonders opens Friday, October 30, at  Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in Manhattan.

—Marina Zogbi