Emma (Lila Gueneau), 15, pregnant following a rape, defies her repressive rural Protestant community to forge a path of self-determination, transforming her trauma into a catalyst for emancipation while confronting the village’s moral hypocrisy and the spectre of the Second World War surrounding her.
With Silent Rebellion, Marie-Elsa Sgualdo offers a period story of emancipation and coming-of-age that addresses universal and contemporary issues.
Being a Young Woman in 1943
We all have some idea of what it was like to be a woman in the 1940s. But have you ever wondered what it was like to be one in 1943, in Switzerland! Not only were there the same social rules that confined women to a role of a near-object, but there was the Second World War and Nazis circulating at the border. Not to mention those people trying to hide in Switzerland to avoid being caught by the Third Reich.
Silent Rebellion clearly shows this period and succeeds in conveying the heavy atmosphere and the hard life that awaited young women. And, of course, when one lived in a very conservative environment, as is the case for Emma, an additional burden had to be added due to everything that had to remain secret. For example, when Emma is raped and becomes pregnant, she is “supported” by being asked: “He forced you? So much the better.” That certainly gets the point across.
Liberation
Emma’s life is marked by obligations. A prisoner of the social and religious values of the 1940s, her future seems completely mapped out. When a young man passing through abuses her naivety and rapes her, Emma, only 15, becomes pregnant. In her rural Protestant environment, this event is a real disaster. But this event turns out to be a revelation for Emma, who begins to reject submission and make decisions for herself and her unborn child. Despite the circumstances, she chooses the difficult path of emancipation.
We understand, of course, that Emma does not represent the majority of women of the time. Rather, she is a symbol of what would eventually happen. Every movement must begin with an awareness, and that is what this film shows. The young woman understands that symbolic, social, or geographical boundaries cannot prevent her from taking a stand. Alone against the world and the beliefs that shaped her, she draws on her inner strength, her need to resist and regain control of her life, and her desire not to conform.
Obviously, at times we are left with the impression that it’s all a little too much. This ultra-naive and very shy girl suddenly becomes a fighter. Perhaps the film would gain by having less dramatic time jumps at times. Maybe the addition of a few scenes between the moment she realizes she is in trouble and the moment she is suddenly about to get married would have made it easier for the viewer to accept. It could have removed that impression of ease. The same thing happens later in the film and, again, it gives a false sense of facility. Since the film lasts only 96 minutes, adding 3 or 4 scenes would have helped maintain the film’s tone.
A little more…
Despite everything, the director, through her staging, expresses the depth of Emma’s character, the upheavals of her emotional landscape, her quest for truth, and her pragmatic adaptation to the reality of her environment. The viewer clearly grasps the discrepancy between Emma’s intuitive and vital reactions and the social and moral norms that oppress her.
The result is an imperfect film, but one that offers a different perspective on an era that has been shown far too much in cinema, but always from the same point of view.
Silent Rebellion is presented at the Cinefranco festival on November 15, 2025.
