Non ti muovere

It's so unfair that great movies like this one are the ones that nobody heard off. Here in Portugal was one of the underdogs in theaters, for great pity of mine. If you have the idea that Penelope Cruz is just a pretty woman that lost her talent when began working in the USA, you're wrong. We can see a real actress in this movie, we can see what she can really do. It's a beautiful drama story, with simple characters, where a man, a doctor with a nice social position, married and supposily happy meets the woman of his life in the ugly, poor and incredibly sad Italia ( Penelope crux). All I can say is please watch it because it's just brilliant.

Watching this movie I couldn't stop thinking of a great Italian novel, "Un amore" (probably translated in English as "A love") by Dino Buzzati. Both treat the subject of an impossible love, but Buzzati's is much more concrete and much better. "Non ti muovere" lacks psychological insight, the characters seem too void, the relationships between them don't have that something that would make them seem real.It's very possible that one simply doesn't get it. This could and should have been an interesting depiction of a middle-age crisis, of a person who just doesn't fit in the picture that it's his life, but instead it's a seemingly meaningless love story, with an unaesthetic Penelope Cruz, who, unfortunately for her is no great actress.

In Australia we are fortunate to have 3 or 4 festivals each year showcasing the latest films from France, Germany, Greece and Italy. "Don't look Now" is screening as part of the Italian one

Sergio Castellitto is quite well known here, perhaps mainly for his lead role in "Mostly Martha" where he shone. He brings a great presence to the screen although his character here is darker than the outgoing Italian chef in Martha.

"Don't Look Now" is a riveting story of a surgeon sitting in the waiting room of a hospital where he works with his 15 yo daughter and only child seriously injured fighting for her life in the operating room. Whilst waiting he recounts the crucial moments in his life and mainly his sordid and violent (his) relationship with Cruz, a derelict young woman and the interplay and very much parallel life with his wife, a successful journalist played by Claudia Gerini who looks very much like an Italian Diane Lane.. beautiful hair, classical looks.

The contrast between his married homelife and Cruz situation is black and white. His house overlooks a beautiful beach, Cruz's is in a dusty hellhole in the middle of a construction site.

This film makes perfect use of flashbacks something I normally detest particularly ones that move in reverse order like Momento or the French Film "Irreversible"

The rape scene between Cruz and Castellitto is much briefer than that in "Irreversible" but just as uncomfortable to watch.

I couldn't quite work out the attraction between Cruz's and Castellitto's characters as there was no gentleness in his approach at first (it was rape) but somehow he falls in love with her.

But there is a lot to enjoy here and a lot to think about afterwards. It is the sort of movie that you should see once and could see a number of times to get all the angles.

For Cruz this could perhaps be compared to Halle Berry's performance in Monsters Ball or Charlene Theron's in Monster. But unlike these other two films, Cruz's character is only one of the 3 or 4 varied relationships Castellitto's character has in the film. These relationships and how they interplay is why it is such an interesting movie.

Emotionally intense movie handled unflinchingly by lead actor Castellitto. This immersive character study into an unfulfilled doctor's love affair is a tad too lengthy and perhaps the director indulges in his on screen action a little too much, but the dedication that the two ill-fated lovers give to portraying the rawness of their emotions and instincts will, despite once in a while misfiring, leave few viewers unfazed. Penelope Cruz is great as the counterpoint, and deserves much respect for assuming such a demanding, unglamorous role at this point in her well established career. Obviously it is the love of acting that propels her(no comparison to her English jobs), as this mildly received Italian film must have been several notches down from her draw, but when you see the psychologically harrowing sex scenes (not always for the sex, but for the right before and right after) you realize why someone would be interested in such intimate work. As the film slightly overextends itself to reach it's climax which sort of dumbs down it's poignant theme, the performances and overall taste left are nonetheless real and life affirming despite all of it's muddied ramifications.

The film is almost surreal. It is difficult to imagine a genuine romance arising out of a rape scene. But the film hints - leaving the viewer to decide for one's self - that Italia's abusive childhood made her desperate for love - any love. Similarly, Tino's hate for his father may have been a factor in his becoming the dissolute adult he is.

It is significant that Tino's wife, with whom he has fallen out of love, is an attractive, affectionate, professionally successful woman. Italia, his mistress is plain looking and older than her years.

We have to suspect that wife suspects. Yet Tino's frequent, prolonged and unexplained absences are simply glossed over. This sort of simplifies things, but it is rather difficult for the viewer to accept.