Segredos do Coração

Cristina Comencini is the daughter of legendary Italian director Luigi Comencini, one of the makers of the Italian comedy from the Fifties to the Seventies. Cristina is an established director as well -she's also an appreciated writer. Her films are very different from the features of her father -either they're more dramatical or contain a less hilarious comedy.

"La bestia nel cuore" means "The beast in the heart" in English. The film is based on a book written by Cristina Comencini herself.

Sabina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), a dubbing actress, wants to see again her brother Daniele (Luigi Lo Cascio) -who works in America as a Universitiy teacher. They both share a terrible experience: when they were child they were abused by their father.

This horrible experience is like a beast in the heart because it's impossible to recover from. They search for truth and try to elaborate it. In this film there are other characters with painful situations. Emilia (Stefania Rocca) is a blind woman friend of Sabina, she's lesbian; Maria (Angela Finocchiaro) is a 50 year old woman who faces the fact of having been left by her husband for a very very young girl. These people too have a beast in their heart.

The film is dramatical, of course, but the atmosphere is not heavy at all -there are also moments in which we can laugh. So the film doesn't go in only one direction.

There are a lot of reflection hints, it's not an easy film -because we all have bigger or smaller beasts in ourselves...-. But you don't go out of the cinema depressed and sad, not at all. There's a message of hope.

The film his a high quality movie, with excellent actors. Giovanna Mezzogiorno won a price at the last Venice Film Festival: she deserved it because she acts very well. She's dramatical but in a believable way -she doesn't put too much emphasis and pathos in the role. A real actress.

This film was an amateur job at best. I would have expected more than a melo-dramatic soap opera to tell the story of such a sensitive subject. I've seen more talented first time directors and writers do a whole hell of a lot better then these seasoned soap workers. A pity certain scenes were interesting and somewhat well done had no leg to stand on, hence they seemed comical in their brief moments and then certain scenes in their flailing over stated tragedy were completely worthy of only a snicker and a wave of embarrassment for the filmmakers to write and direct such a cliché and stereotypical portrayal of...well...Everything AND Everyone! SHAME on the Oscar committee for nominating THIS film for Best Foreign Film...what kind of Judges does that committee have??? Ex Soap stars? We need to maintain SOME kind of level of excellence to recognize great ability to truly create work worthy of Oscar nominations next to the likes of our greatest filmmakers and entertainment talent of intelligence, skill and creativity, not amateur soap "workers". Please. Movie of the week maybe....but an Oscar Nomination? Because it was made in Italy. WAKE UP!! HELLO!!

The director has written 4 books and directed 7 films but this is her first film based on her own book. She said it has been a challenging task for her to direct this film because one has to betray the book while directing its film version. It has been a difficult task for her to cut out many written in her book.

In general, it's a well-done film about many unusual relationships: family relationships (including father-daughter, mother-daughter, father-son, mother-son, brother-sister relationships) involved in pedophilia, lesbian relationship, co-cohabiting couple relationship in an adultery, divorced couple relationship in an adultery. Exactly because of such a wide angle about relationships, the core element about victims/survivors of pedophilia has been dealt lightly but conscientiously.

Very good acting from the supporting actresses Angela Finocchiaro and Stefania Rocca. The acting of Giovanna Mezzogiorno is less natural. The anxiety she delivers in this film is not that of being in a pedophilia victim-hood, but more of that of her impersonal and emotionless involvement.

Two scenes I found unnecessary in the film. One is the (imagined) kissing scene of Emilia and Sabina. Enough evidence has been given (though later) suggesting Emilia is a lesbian, so no need of showing this scene. Another disturbing scene is when Franco was watching Sabina playing with his children. I found it redundant to show the detailed scene of Sabina's conversation with the children.

In addition, the plot is well-linked through narrating all correspondences (letters and emails) between the protagonists. A neat idea.

This uncomfortable psychological drama does not get as much mileage as it should due to unnecessary subplot's that overstay their welcome by the time the third act finally ends. Nonetheless, lead Giovanna Mezzogiorno gives an engaging tour into the quiet torment that begins to seep back into her mind once a family death sets the film in motion. Marred by it's overachieved Oscar nominee, this is still a worthwhile experience into old cobwebs of the mind, highlighted by it's eerie past-sequence cinematography, but distracted and offset by the underdeveloped, sometimes silly "supporting" characters. As the final scene faded, I was painfully reminded of the powerful themes this film has to offer, and hope amongst much filler their purpose is not lost on an unengaged audience.

Be it Sabina in w-d Cristina Comencini's "La Bestia Nel Cuore" 2005, or Giovanna in w-d Ferzan Ozpetek's "La Finestra Di Fronte" 2003, or Giulia in w-d Gabriele Muccino's "L'Ultimo Bacio" 2001, Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno's portrayals are so complexly simple and 'relishingly' memorable to watch.

"Don't Tell" may not be for everyone due to the difficult, sensitive subject matter. There were Hollywood or television movies that dealt with this 'beastly' subject, and "Bliss" (1996 from writer-director Lance Young) came to mind. "Bliss" is more frank and direct in dealing with the sexual repression issue (the film is for mature audience.) Here with "Don't Tell" - based on her own novel "The Beast in the heart," co-writer and director Cristina Comencini gave us a more 'insider viewpoint' on this issue of family secrets. Through Sabina's anxieties, reactions to her nightmares, and through her brother Daniele's flashbacks and accounts of his childhood responses to his parents, we could feel the painful memories along with them.

But the film is never heavy. Comencini has created for us sketches of life: we get to see Sabina in her everyday life, meeting the people she's with and cares for. Through them, we get the balance of humor in the conversations we eavesdrop vs. the somber subject of Sabina struggling internally with unwanted childhood memories. There is Emilia - a longtime childhood blind friend Sabina helps and visits regularly; Maria - a colleague at her marital crossroads Sabina hangs out and chats with; Franco - Sabina's actor boyfriend she loves and lives with; and through Franco at work on a TV soap series, we meet the lively director Andrea Negri, who somehow adds colorful tenderness to the young (love in, love out) couple of Sabina and Franco.

"A scar is an indelible mark, but it's not an illness," so Daniele, now married with a loving American wife and father of two sons, said to his sister Sabina. There are painful memories that we cannot erase, but we survive and learn to live anew, going beyond the past vs. wallowing in it. "Don't Tell" is a worthwhile film to experience. Thanks to Rosanna Del Bruno's translation (also on Gabriele Salvatore's "I'm Not Scared" 2003), the subtitles were easy to absorb as we appreciate the wonderful performances all round. For the fans of "The Best of Youth" (aka "La Meglio Gioventu") 2003, both the Carati brothers are featured in this film: Luigi Lo Cascio (Nicola) is Daniele the brother, and Alessio Boni (Matteo) is Franco the boyfriend.