Tableau de famille

Antonia was living the life of most women would dream of. A good medical career, a loving husband, and a wonderful marriage. All that came to a crumble one day when he died in an accident leaving Antonia is grief and mourning.

But an accidental discovery of a painting hinted that Antonia's husband Massimo has another lover. Burning with anger, Antonia sought to find out more about this lover. But there is a catch; Massimo's lover is a man, Michele. Which shocked Antonia more to realising that her husband had lead a double life; one a straight married man, the other a gay lover.

Through Michele, she learnt more of her husbands secrets. A circle of friends Massimo has known through Michele, drag queens, immigrants, gay men, quirky apartment neighbours, and also AIDS patients. This circle of friends shared a warmness that all frienships has. Her open minded curiosity led her to befriend Massimo's circle of friends. Indirectly, she has replaced the vaccuum left by Massimo's death. At the same time, there is a growing attraction between her and Michele, as both are brought closer together. She then contrasts her life with Massimo and then with this 'new life' she has found after his death. Furthermore, she has to address her growing affections for her departed husbands lover.

Turkish director Ozpetek captures the warm bindings of this motley group of friends and in realistic detail in the confines of Michele's flat which serves as the groups meeting point for dinners and chats. The audience can feel the warmth emmitted from the togetherness of these people. A beautiful scene is where we see the dance party which is played to the tune of a slow song number overshadowing the dance beat in the background. We see all the circle of friends, Antonia and Michele included having a good time, bonding (yes even literal bonding!). Longing glances were exchanged between Antonia and Michele. This serves as a powerful scene and many assumptions or predictions can be made from this tease.

There are many side stories to Antonia and Michele's friendship as well such as dealing with rejection, pain suffered by an AIDS patient. Some of these issues are delicately dealt and while some humorous. There is plenty of humour in this film. Never has it made me laugh out loud. We see quirky characters like Louiselle the quirky supermarket cashier, Serra the 'apartment secretary', Mara the drag queen turned transvetite, Ricky, Sandora and Emir, all of them add together the humouros elements and warmth. A special mention would be Antonia's mother whose opened and profound views on life and adultery really had my sides splitting. The main leads by Margherita Buy and Stefano Accorsi depicts two people coming in terms of both of their loved one's death are very well potrayed. The emotion and the passion is felt from these two actor's performances.

Cheers to Ozpetek for creating such a warm and sentimental film! Almost made me shed tears when the ending loomed.

"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

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.

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.

Film making is not about bringing together photography and theater, but painting and music. So said Robert Bresson, and Turkish director (but living and working in Italy) Ferzan Ozpetek shows how this is possible. Anna (a young and rich widow living a sheltered life, admirably played by Margherita Bui) discovers her deceased husband (with whom she was truly in love) had a gay lover. She traces this man, and discovers a whole world she had not dreamed of - just a few kilometers from home. She mourns her marriage for the second time, and is both repulsed and attracted by the former lover and his friends (living in a semi-incredible commune which FerzanOzpetek creates and describes in flourishing details). In the end she accepts this separate reality, discovering it inside herself as well as outside.

At the beginning I was fascinated by the technical talents of Ferzan Ozpetek, and how he interprets other directors without actually copying them: the general atmosphere of the gay commune reminds me of Pedro Almodovar (the costumes, for example, and the terrace in Rome like the one in Madrid in Women on the verge of nervous breakdown). The way of picturing the streets of this old, lower-class area of Rome reminded me of Mario Martone and his film L'amore Molesto. By the time I realized the biggest debt is to Julian Shnabel's Before Night Falls I was so much into the film that I did not care any more, and simply let myself being carried away by the magic of emotions. At the end I left the cinema totally dazzled. (There is a brief scene when Antonio is looking for condoms and unexpectedly finds a poetry book which for me is worth many a therapy sessions discussing sex and affection).

I cannot guarantee that this will happen to you as well, but you are certain to see a film full of art, by that rare director who established himself (Turkish Bath was his first film) not by marketing savvy but by word-of-mouth from casual viewers becoming enthusiastic supporters.

By the way: the connection with Before Night Falls is clear in two points. Both films surprise viewers with emotional documentary footage when the ending titles are showing. Here it is about the year 2000 Gay Pride march in Rome (a national confrontation after the Vatican and the left-wing prime minister tried to have it banned or moved somewhere else).

The second point is even more clear: in both films there is a scene (and a very moving one) where soft, melancholic music is used (apparently out of context) under footage of a loud and roaring party. In Le Fate Ignoranti the two main characters look at each other with romantic longing - while both are engaged (actively or passively) in overtly sexual courting with other partners. Loneliness hidden in apparent merriment is exactly what Shnabel wanted to show, as well.