Coeurs inconnus

What a wonderful film! What a superb cast. What a sensitive, haunting story. Everything comes to-gether --- the music, the cinematography, the story --- to produce a beautiful motion picture. A very different role for Sophia Loren. As you might expect, she excels. But so does everybody else. The scene in the book store is one of cinema's great moments. The silver screen has invincible power when it used so masterfully. And how very nice to see Toronto play itself for a change instead of acting as a stand in for some other place. A few films like this would do far more to revive the city's shattered image than concerts by the Stones and visits by Conan O'Brien. This film is a keeper!!!

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.

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

This movie was better than expected, well acted and the little dramas were sincere. It's got Deborah Kara Unger AND Mira Sorvino plus many other high caliber actors in small parts. But there's some negatives that keep it from greatness.

The 3 vandals were too disturbing for this kind of film and made me want to twist their necks. No such justice in the movie.

The connection between the three female leads is too far fetched and virtually non-existent. The ending does not make any sense, why are these 3 women waiting at the same table at the airport, they all have different destinations. The little girl makes no sense other than being a poorly constructed plot device to link the three women. Unnecessary too because this story already has a link between them: they're on a crossroad between the past and the present, up to something new in their life.

Also, the photographer accidentally meeting with an Angolian, as was mentioned here before, is WAY too coincidental.

It seems that this kind of storytelling has become popular with Short Cuts and Magnolia, of which the first is by far the best.

Everything about this movie was perfect - the three lead characters were played with such depth and restraint! Although I have never been in the position of any of these women (luckily), I feel like I could relate to their emotions, their ambivalence, their sadness and their ultimate strength. If ever there was a movie that showed the power of living through adversity, this is it! Gerard Depardieu was lovely as an intuitive friend - he was in it just a little, but his presence always moved the movie forward. Sophia Loren's husband was a perfectly human foil - both had shattered dreams and took two different paths in dealing with it, but both paths were completely understandable. Although his character could have been horribly despicable (and, boy!, some of his dialog was shockingly mean), he didn't seem like a monster. Not even the hoodlums were one-dimensional. Miro Sorvino took my breath away, Deborah Unger's restraint was outstanding and Sophia Loren - well, her best role, ever. This is a movie for the down-hearted, for those at impossible crossroads, and for those who like hopeful - not happy - endings.