Le fate ignoranti

This is my first encounter with a film by Ferzan Ozpetek and a more than satisfying one. This modest drama about a woman's growing understanding of the often hazardous and confusing life the homosexual friends of her dead husband lead is extremely convincing.

Almodóvar came to mind when seeing the commune of transsexuals and gay characters so lovingly and believably portrayed. Without the hysterics of the Spanish master Ozpetek manages to show the witty bitchiness, the hurt of and compassion for the Aids victims.

Mature is the word that springs to mind when the story unfolds and its old fashioned but unforced warmth pervades you. Without winning prizes for originality this film shows that, when made with heart, involvement and wit, one can tell an old tale over and over again.

It's also nice to find exploitation veteran Erica Blanc in a quirky but well perceived bit part.

If film is about the message it wants to convey to its audience, this film has definitely achieved it. The subtle depiction of the gay community is so much different from the usual Hollywood stereotype gay men - your Queer as Folk kinda guy. While the soapy detail of Queer as Folk casts the image of the gay community as something really really different from the straight community hence giving it some sort of exclusivity (despised by many of the so called straight righteous community), Le Fate Ignoranti portrays the gay community as just 'the other human being.' Different maybe, but it doesnt emphasize the difference to the level that no straight mortal will be able to immerse let alone understand it. Le Fate Ignoranti portrays the gay community as just another 'group' in our society, facing the same humane problems - that gay men are nothing but another human beings deserve the same humane treatment and respect.

Michele is so differently refreshing from his Hollywood counterparts, full of dignity and no cynicism towards the world that you usually find in those so called gay Hollywood films. While Hollywood gay men show only insecurity with their identity, Michele is oozing with confidence and is perfectly comfortable with his sexuality.

This film and director Ferzan Ozpetek has definity done great job in the effort of establishing more insight into a 'more real' depiction of gay community.

"His Secret Life" is the unimaginative American title. The Fairies in the original title is referred to a painting, what else? Margherita Buy, the central character in this surprising modern melodrama is a revelation, at least for me. She doesn't look like anybody else and at the same time she reminded me of several women I know. So middle class. Elegant without meaning too. Very difficult to sort out, describe or shake up. She takes the revelation of her husband's past as a British woman would, with a remarkable stiff upper lip. I mean, she is shocked, hurt, disturbed but she carries of all that in her eyes. She doesn't collapse with hysterics. The weakest link in this almost perfect fairy tale is the leading man Stefano Accorsi - Apparently a big star in Italy but I thought he was difficult to warm up to. There is a petulance there that I couldn't quite overcome so, as a consequence, I didn't care about him. I cared about Serra Yelmaz , a wonderful and truly original character. I also cared about Erica Blanc as the ultra sophisticated, lonely and wise mother of Marherita Buy's character. I also cared about Gabriel Garko because I think, he is the character, Ferzan Ozpetek, the director, cared about the most. At least Garko has the best, the most beautiful loving close ups of the entire film. Recommended

I greatly admired "Steam" by director Ferzan Ozpetek. He has an eye for detail with interesting stories to tell, as it's the case with this one.

The story presented here is credible. It is what happens after a loved one has met a horrible death, as it is in the case of Antonia's husband. Obviously, what appeared to be a happy marriage on the surface was a bit more complicated than we are let to believe at the beginning of the movie.

Don't ever fool around with a woman's curiosity! Antonia can't rest until she delves deep into the clues left behind a painting. She embarks into a journey of discovery that will ultimately lead her to learn a horrible truth.

Antonia meets Michele who, obviously, is someone who turns out to be a mirrored image of her. That's why is so easy to comprehend the situation. She gets our sympathy because instead of fleeing in horror, she wants to know more to get it clearly in her mind.

Margherita Buy is very effective as Antonia and Stefano Accorsi's Michele is one of the best roles he has played in a while.

Credit has to be given to director Ozpetek by keeping things in rein without making the story into a soap opera.

Here is a film that is both unconventional and deeply touching.

The best thing about this film is the absence in it of any clichés. This holds, first of all, for the main gay character, Michele. In Italian films gay characters tend to be described in extremely stereotyped ways; in other films, such as "Philadelphia", there are gay characters that tend to be described as if they were sort of saints. In this case, instead, the main gay character is a complex man, with contrasting aspects; the tension between his love for someone he will never be able to fully share his love with and his inability to requite the affection of those who could; the tension between his attraction for the widow of his late lover, in whom he finds an echo of aspects he loved in him, and the hatred he feels for his rival; the bitterness for the love lost and the willingness to engage in fast sex; all makes this character a fascinating one.

Even more so for the main female character. For once Margherita Buy plays a different character from the neurotic, insecure women she has often played in the past, and is given a wonderful opportunity to show her dramatic skills. She's hurt and yet not bitter, she's open-minded and yet has a morality of her own, she's curious and yet not intrusive; she plays a thoughtful, sensitive, tender and deeply human character, for whom one can feel nothing but sympathy.

Many foreigners seem to especially like films which depict Italy and Italians in strongly conventional ways, such as "Mediterraneo", "Life is Beautiful" or "Cinema Paradiso": a rural country, populated by childish, superficial and sentimental people surrounded by beautiful landscapes, preferably in Tuscany, and artistic beauties. This film, set in a dilapidated district of Rome, will probably make them understand that Italy is a country quite different, in many ways, from the one they like to see represented in some Italian films.