Não Se Mova

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.

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.

Note: Penélope Cruz' character Italia is, if at all comparable to Federico Fellinis work the legitimate continuation of Giulietta Masina's character Cabiria from "Le Notti di Cabiria", not Gelsomina from "La Strada".

Having said this I will briefly add this comment to mention that "Non ti muovere" is one of the two best films I have seen so far.

So another comment in favor of Castellito's amazing piece work.

Make up your own mind. In response to some of the other comments that suggest this is a study in S&M or that many viewers might consider this film "High Art", I say it's neither. It is basically a powerful love-story/soap opera that is beautifully directed, acted and edited and will either leave you cold and furious or emphatic and happy, depending on your sensibility. It's about finding life and in doing so finding something to believe in.

A doctor who has become the world's biggest pragmatist finally encounters a woman who takes away everything he once thought mattered.

It's Italian melodrama in its purest form. For some people this can be very effective, for others purely wasteful. There's nothing in between. But aren't these the movies usually worth seeing the most?

Here is a movie which is better than the book it is adapted from. Not unlike film version of "the Hours", the film version of "Non Ti Muovere - Don't Move" surpasses the quality of the book. Castellito proves that not only is he one of the best actors in Italy but he is also a first-rate movie director. His directing puts in an amazing load of emotions into a story which was depicted rather coldly in the book. The scene where Castellito-Timeteo has a fight with Cruz-Italia after she announces that she underwent an abortion is worthy of movie anthologies. One of the best surprises of the film is undoubtedly Penelope Cruz that emerges from the castrating roles in Hollywood and proves herself as an emotionally intense actress. I hope the film receives the acclaim it deserves in its showing at the Cannes Festival in May.

A groundbreaking and agonizing Italian modern cinema movie, which apparently caused some controversy due to its violent rape scene. Not a huge fan of Penelope Cruz, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well she fit in with the character. As a director, Castellitto has done an exceptional job in managing to turn a somewhat unrealistic scenario into a truly down-to-earth passionate story. I am sure that his wife and co-director Mazzantini shares much of that credit. I thought the the last scene could have been developed better as it seemed to indicate a typical old-school Italian ending. It was interesting to note the dazed look on the faces of many people in the audience once the movie was over.