Luce dei miei occhi

This movie is a wonderful, successful attempt to describe loneliness. The whole movie is pervaded by a melancholic atmosphere of sadness and desolation, contributed to by even the smallest details.

If you like action, if you consider silence just boring, if you want a frantic-paced story that does not give you the time to reflect, this movie is definitely not for you.

But if you are looking for poetry, you will really love this movie. I do.

LIGHT OF MY EYES ('Luce dei miei occhi') is more a fantasia on theme of loneliness and need for love than it is a straightforward narrative story. Under the direction of Giuseppe Piccioni, who co-wrote the screenplay with Umberto Contarello, it shimmers like and extended poem, a theme so delicate and so suffused with melancholy that it remains as an echo long after the film is over.

Antonio (Luigi Lo Cascio) is a sweet dreamer who respects his station in life as a chauffeur for customers about Rome, following the rule of 'Know when to talk and when to shut up' his boss has set as the standard. In his lonely ennui Antonio narrates his life in a voice-over monologue as a man named Morgan, a character with whom he identifies from his science fiction novel. His life takes on some meaning when he prevents an accident from happening with a young girl Lisa (Barbara Valente) who lives a lonely life with her lonely mother Maria (Sandra Ceccarelli) whose life is divided among making a living in a not too successful frozen food shop, a frustrating sexual attachment to a cold married man, and trying to hold her little home together since her husband's absence. Gradually Antonio's act of protecting Lisa is acknowledged by Maria and while Antonio is quite taken with the distant Maria, Maria thanks him in a brief and passionate but isolated sexual experience. Maria is needy, Antonio is needy, Lisa is needy, but somehow the connection cannot be made: Maria must concentrate on her lack of income to support Lisa.

Antonio, seeing the need to assist Maria's financial situation, allows himself to accept a chauffeur job that involves illegal smuggling of foreigners. Maria's response to her desperate situation is to allow Lisa to be cared for by her grandparents. In a moment suggestive of the old Christmas tale where the man buys combs for his wife's hair while the wife sells her hair to by a gift for her husband, Maria and Antonio face the misunderstanding of their 'friendship' and all seems lost until each changes a significant event that opens a communal door of caring and hope for something more for the little trio.

Both Lo Cascio and Ceccarelli are fine actors and make these difficult roles wholly credible. The atmosphere of the film is well defined by the adroit camera work of Arnaldo Catinari and enhanced by the musical score by Ludovico Einaudi. This is one of those very small films that may evade the casual film-goer not only due to the inappropriately poor DVD cover art but also by the lack of proper promotion. It is a word of mouth success in this country. In Italian with English subtitles. Grady Harp

The title of this film "Luce dei miei occhi" translates from Italian to English to mean "Through the light of my eyes" and how appropriate. This is one of the most realistic movies that reflects the true nature of how cruel and one sided some relationships and liaisons can be. Most movies of this genre are so predictable and to some extent,- extremely unrealistic, simply because men are always portrayed as the selfish cold hearted instigator to jeopardize relationships. What makes this movie more unique is that there is no third party to cause rivalry for this woman's affection.

Without giving too much away, we have here a lonely taxi driver who is a true gentleman with honourable intentions, that falls for a single mother (of a young daughter) who remains coldly indifferent to his love and commendable contributions. She runs a frozen food store and he eventually learns that she is heavily in debt to some loan shark, so he decides to help with payments without her knowledge. He goes to extreme lengths to help her by also striking some deal in chauffeuring her creditor. In the movie, he narrates his experiences by modeling similarities to the themes of non related events in some Science fiction novels,which are his other passion and that he feels like an alien from another planet without any sense of belonging.

Although she is not at fault for her lack of affection towards him, this movie can be extrapolated further, because it does not have to be just the lack of appreciation from a woman towards a man's love, but the lack of appreciation from any other person, purely due to a missing charm. I am not one to be blown away by love stories, however, there is a moral to this movie that generalizes beyond a conjugal relationship, which affects us all in one way or another, even if it may be just between siblings. This demonstrates that it is not what you do for another to be appreciated, but whether they like you or not. Many of us can relate to this fact whether it is for affection from a partner, appreciation for contributions towards the workplace that go beyond the call of duty, countless efforts towards a friendship or even time towards a charitable cause. It is not what you do for a cause, but whether the recipient likes you or not.

Despite being highly criticised by movie critics at Venice Festival, it's a great movie. True and touching. Sandra Ceccarelli is only wonderful, as Silvio Orlando in a minor role.

If you have a chance, give it a look!.

how could you evaluate the suggestion to enjoy the vision of a movie like this, winning the awards for best actors in Venice Festival(both male LoCascio and female Ceccarelli) but also with some Italian pro critics defining it a half delusion? My opinion is the pro had seen another movie, there was a mistake during their private vision, otherwise there is no explanation. This movie is pure poetry, I've seen it twice, at cinema and at home, and always my feeling was comparable with the state of grace that vision of masterpieces give me. The story is about a woman(with a young daughter) and a man, their normal life, aspiring just a bit of happiness, a human contact in a world in which sometimes we fell alien(a constant recall in this movie). The plot is complete, practically perfect. Enjoy it the more when you need a gentle fondling, we are not alone.