Between Strangers

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.

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.

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.

Look ! i know the story line could be repeated in many other films, i know the plot is sometimes weak, i know the ending gathering scene is far fetched you may say all that but...but forget all that and look at Sophia Lauren oh my god what an acting how up and down she good with her emotions and face expressions,with her feelings of despair of guilt then of hope all mixed in one scene..one shot look at her in the book shop scene-master scene for her,she is determined yet weak as a woman with a hard past its an art film,art in acting art in development of heightened feelings,if it shows on TV..Watch it its not just a film for wounded women its a film for those who have sensitive feelings and have been wounded in the past and by the way ,the ending is deep just try to think of it..out of the box.. i gave that rankling for the superb acting for Mira survino as well as THE Sophia Lauren also for announcing proudly that its shot and takes its events in Canada

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.