Between Strangers

I caught this on a recent airline flight. I had seen the dreadful reviews given it when it played the Toronto Film Festival so was prepared for appalling schlock. Considering it was Sophia's son's first effort as a director (though admittedly surrounding himself with a stellar cast from Sophia cashing in some major chips)he extracted good performances from everyone. A very light story involving three disparate women is gracefully laced together in the end as they come to their own conclusions as to what their lives should be about. 6 out of 10.

Everything about this movie was perfect - the three lead characters were played with such depth and restraint! Although I have never been in the position of any of these women (luckily), I feel like I could relate to their emotions, their ambivalence, their sadness and their ultimate strength. If ever there was a movie that showed the power of living through adversity, this is it! Gerard Depardieu was lovely as an intuitive friend - he was in it just a little, but his presence always moved the movie forward. Sophia Loren's husband was a perfectly human foil - both had shattered dreams and took two different paths in dealing with it, but both paths were completely understandable. Although his character could have been horribly despicable (and, boy!, some of his dialog was shockingly mean), he didn't seem like a monster. Not even the hoodlums were one-dimensional. Miro Sorvino took my breath away, Deborah Unger's restraint was outstanding and Sophia Loren - well, her best role, ever. This is a movie for the down-hearted, for those at impossible crossroads, and for those who like hopeful - not happy - endings.

BETWEEN STRANGERS is a tough story told with unrelieved intensity, acted with underplayed angst, and directed with quiet strength by Eduardo Ponti. The "Strangers" are three unrelated women, each of whom has a burden that grows until it must be lifted.

Mira Sorvino is a media photographer, daughter of Klaus Maria Brandauer (who has multiple awards for his own news photography, who has just had one of her images appear on TIME magazine - an image of a little girl from Angola who we gradually learn died in the fire Mira was photographing. She is haunted by the fact that the time she spent photographing the child could have been used to save the child's life.

Deborah Unger is a concert cellist whose wife-abusing father (Malcolm McDowell) is released from prison despite her conviction that he should die for his cruelty, forcing her to leave her own family in the attempt to end her father's existence.

Sophia Loren is a haggard housewife who has devoted her sad life to caring for her wheelchair-bound past athlete husband (Pete Postlethwaite) until she sees her illegitimate daughter she was forced to abandon becoming the sculptor artist she herself always wanted to be. Each of these women have visions of the same small girl at moments when they are forced to confront their pain and each finds a way back to salvation through 'living out a dream'.

Some may find the story saccharine, but the actors deliver these sad folk in such an honest way that together they manage to capture our hearts. It is a true pleasure to see Sophia Loren act again and even the makeup she dons for her dowdy role cannot hide the fact that she remains one of the most beautiful women the screen has known - and one of the best actresses. All cast members are superb. Just be aware of the fact that this is a bleak story that requires much from the viewer. The rewards are worth it.

The elements of Between Strangers are impressive. Against the background of a Toronto made beautiful by selectivity, a cast of skilled actors work to fulfil the writer's deep material. The film keeps one's attention thanks to the actors' sensitive work. The director's interweaving of the subplots is often moving, sometimes clumsy. The film also puzzles us with the inexplicable behaviours of some of the characters, and the understatement of some themes that beg for deeper exploration. Nevertheless, a praiseworthy effort. 6.5/10.

It is rare coming from such a young filmmaker to see a film with this maturity and understanding for women. I recommend it to anyone who wishes not only to be moved but also inspired by the story's message: the courage to be yourself no matter what. This film will stay in me for a long long time.