For both the speech that its characters emit as well as for its ability to convey complexity of language, cinematic dialogue has become a relatively stable indicator for contemporary Italian. Diaphasia (the situational context) and diastratia (references to social and professional status) are foundational axes for linguistic change. This essay examines the language of Perfetti sconosciuti/Perfect Strangers(Paolo Genovese, 2016), highlighting the increased influence of diaphasia on the characters’ social roles and on their linguistic expression. The essay explores how the film’s diastratic dynamics address the topic of homosexuality, conveying to greater and lesser degrees contradictory attitudes about social unease. By way of a substantial reconstruction of salient characteristics of italiano dell’uso medio (neostandard Italian), Perfect Strangersdelineates an identikit of a speaker who veers toward traits that are medio or medio bassi in a communicative context. In this instance, diaphasia is an influential variable in discerning diminished formality and register of speech of characters occupying a medium to high social status. Language used with reference to homosexuality constitutes a bloc that makes the film’s dialogue a worthy subject of analysis, demonstrating more generally the relevance of language as a subject of analysis for the film.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15781/pnth-4e16