Andrea Sabbadini, From love to violence

Abstract: This article focuses on Marius, the protagonist of Everybody in Our Family (Radu Jude, 2012). His personality manifests itself both through his genuine love for his five-year-old daughter Sophia, and through his propensity for suddenly transforming his repressed resentment and conflictual relationship with his ex-wife Otilia into verbal abuse and physical violence. Some attention is also given to the psychological function of a large toy octopus, a present which Marius gives to his daughter, symbolically representing both himself and her. The film, situated somewhere in the transitional space between comedy and family drama, brilliantly illustrates that, especially in the context of unresolved tense interpersonal relationship, toxic emotional states can transform otherwise reasonable adults into unrestrained children, and can easily escalate into domestic violence.