Blue-Haired-Girl Mnemonic: Italian Sci-Fi Nirvana
by Roberta Tabanelli
This article analyzes the science fiction Italian film Nirvana (1997) directed by Oscar-winning Gabriele Salvatores. Specifically, Tabanelli proposes a gendered reading of the film focused on the character of Naima, a female hacker with blue hair and an implant in her forehead. The author claims that Nirvana’s closing scene, and in particular the last photogram, by re-configuring the characters’ roles in the story, subvert the diegetic and ideological truth that the audience has believed throughout the film, until that final moment. Her interpretation of Nirvana’s finale assigns Naima a leading role, transforming her into a powerful female model whose posthumanity is central to the creation of her subversive subjectivity.