In 1965, Elio is eighteen years old and he attends the San Carlo College in Turin. He has been pushed away from home by his father because of his undisciplined behavior. During that year, he receives some letters from his parents, his friend Nino, and his lover, Raffaella. These letters sketch out the story of a restless and rebellious young boy living through teenage crisis and the first responsibilities of adulthood. Dear Monster is a collage of overlapping words, images, sounds that recall a long gone past, brought back to light through a grim finding.
“Dear Monster” is a collection of authentic documents. However, there are few historical and biographical references to the characters. Voices and handwriting are the only elements useful to draw the senders’ psychological profiles. The texts are read and interpreted by actors; the voices are inserted into sound environments, as if hypothetically present at the time of writing. The film develops visually through a slow overlap of symbolic and evocative images of the inner universe of the young Elio. Through the use of fade effects, the pages of the letters merge with photographs, magazine clippings and some amateur films of the time. The result is a stratification of worn-out textures and faded colours. “Dear Monster” is a backward journey in memories, in search of lostaffections.
