Giorni

Plot/storyline have been much discussed in earlier reviews here. And, yes, this is a film about "living with Aids," how it can in some ways "robotize" one's behavior, cut one off and harden one in his/her interactions with others.....and Trabacchi (as Claudio) is excellent in showing us every facet of just such a "throwaway" man (for in the end he does just that). However, I am more interested in another of the players.........the one who shoves in our faces the purity and certainty of simple love: Salerno (as Andrea). He gives such a pure performance that we come face to face with a love so strong that it overpowers any thought of self-danger.......so strong that it overpowers wisdom and any sense of self-preservation.

Practically every other review and comment seems to focus on Trabacchi, yet never in memory have I encountered a male performer who can telegraph the emotion of love more intensely than Salerno; his eyes seem to be that proverbial door to the soul. Again, never have I seen pure love transmitted more powerfully than through this man's eyes and facial expressions (would that many of us ever have been able to have had a love such as his). What he is feeling is projected so strongly that your need is to reach through the screen, grab, and tightly hold him.

I guess I will never be able to understand Italian directors, producers and viewers......for Salerno's film work after this production seems to be nonexistent. How can that be? Yet Trabacchi's follow-on films are numerous, and while his performance is excellent, he displays nowhere near the emotional power radiated by Salerno (should someone admit to a "crush" in here, somewhere?).

So, if you want to see a film about a man none will consider smart, yet a man who would give you unflinching love that you would never doubt, then see "Days." And see the love that Claudio handled disastrously............how would you?

I almost didn't rent this because I can't stand watching movies with subtitles. I'm glad I did. Some of the characters & their storylines could've been left out, but overall a decent movie. I was very surprised at ending & the impact stuck with me through the day. Not a tear jerker, but makes you think.

I do not mind the unclear motivations of some of the main characters or the questionable choices they made. This is a movie, and movie makers have the freedom NOT to satisfy all my expectations, which I like. Although some of what happened was hard to take, the best parts of this movie far outweigh the darkness.

Several months ago I read how hard it is to get straight Italian actors to play gay roles, but whoever wrote that must not have seen this movie. All the main actors, most of whom I assume are straight in real life, played these gay roles with such dedication and fire that it puts American gay movies and American actors (gay and straight) to shame.

I have hardly ever seen on screen such intense and wholly believable passion as explodes between Caudio and Andrea in this movie. That passion alone explains to my satisfaction everything they did later, and I will rush to defend and recommend ANY movie that puts such passion between two men on film. I drank it in like water in a desert.

Beautifully shot and conceived Italian film about a man with AIDS having to take stock of the reality of what others see as life when he is faced with the reality of a totally different life; a life that he knows will lead sooner, rather than later, to death. The things that always kept his life "stable" fall by the wayside as his reality becomes filled with pills, transfusions, solicitous friends, a caretaker lover, a selfish sister and, finally, the first "free" love of his life.

If you are looking for an uplifting film, look elsewhere. GIORNI is unrelentingly bleak, especially as juxtaposed against the rich color and vibrancy of Rome. As well made and acted as it is, it is far more haunted than haunting. Though one is pulled into the plot and stays involved, the ending leaves you depressed and unfulfilled.

Worthwhile, but not a must!

"Days" ("Giorni") takes on interesting subject matter, but misses the mark. This tale of an HIV+ gay man named Claudio who rebels against the regiment that he's surrounded with (bank job, long-time lover, family, HIV medications, safe sex) would be more impactful if the lead character were less closed up. But the biggest problem is the character of the young man - Andrea - our anti-hero has a passionate affair with.

Andrea exists less as a three-dimensional person than as some kind of romantic fantasy figure who passionately falls in love with Claudio in a remarkably short amount of time (i.e. one trick and a quick meeting at a restaurant). Andrea also has no qualms about having unprotected sex with Claudio. We never find out why he's so in love with Claudio (who never seems particularly charismatic) and why he would risk his health and life to have unprotected sex.

While Claudio gets lectured by a few other characters for his reckless behavior, the film has an opportunity to get underneath the frustration of people with HIV and what they have to deal with daily, even though Claudio never seems to be suffering from his multiple medications too much.

Unfortunately, the film is more interested in presenting bareback sex and HIV as the ingredients in some romantic tragedy. Claudio's and Andrea's fate is such that you have to wonder if the filmmaker - a woman - isn't trying to put as depressing a face on gay male life as she can - that HIV infection is inevitable, so you might as well just get it over with. On some level, I find this film quite stupid and irresponsible, though I'm sure the director and the film's defenders would call it "challenging." Nonsense.

Many talk about how much more sophisticated Europeans are about homosexuality, but I sure haven't seen that in the films about gay life that come from that part of the world. In some ways, they're more backward than what we see here.