Un giorno perfetto

The title, clearly ironic and provocative, introduces the plot of the day of Emma (Isabella Ferrari), a single mother of two children. The film is divisive because it tackles a complicated topic directly. There are scenes in which the film becomes a psychological introspection and the observer finds himself immersed in the deviant minds of the characters. The film gets where it wants to go. The direction of the film is easily understood from the first minutes, despite this, the viewer hopes all the time that the drama will not arrive. Instead he arrives and does it in the cruelest way, without leaving the slightest discount. Isabella Ferrari's performance is exceptional, she constantly seems lost in the plot as if she isn't entirely aware of what's happening. Ozpetek goes hard and direct in this film. It is a film of condemnation, incredibly timely, of protest against the chauvinist society and servant of power.

There are a few films that focus on a downwards slide to a final situation (an example would be Requiem for a Dream). A Perfact Day studies a downward slide while styled in the modern way, with character stories cleverly knotted together.

I picked this film more or less at random in the London Film Festival. And the first question to the director was "what does this add to the debate?" I'm not sure a film has to contribute anything for a given debate, but I understand the question.

As a study in emotion, this film does work. But it doesn't reach out anywhere else. There is little that is fully original, and so one is left with a slice of life for an Italian family, some political implications and a mysterious woman.

The film is a disaster - appalling acting, bad editing, inadequate background music, bad cinematography. Irrelevant scenes continuously appear since the very beginning of the film. The actors and actresses in the film fail to show any expression on their faces and let alone deliver any emotions. Those handsome faces accompanying with intolerably appalling acting make the audience wonder whether Italian talents have all been replaced with superficial snobs. It is hard to see how different figures in the film are linked - the existence of the teacher is simply unnecessary. It would be a much more consistent and convincing piece had the director focused on the main storyline. The film is intolerably awful - so much so that it is worse than any TV soap operas. Its nomination for the Venice Film Festival is definitely a joke. Given the quality of F. Ozpetek's work for the past three years, I am certainly not going to see any films from him in the future. What a catastrophe!

Do you want to see an agreeable easy movie, without scenes able to sadden you and make you trouble? Well, you wrong title. One of the most controversial movie of all times, setting aside certain remarks that advocate it's too far from the novel or it's better or worse than it: I affirm the title gets over the novel; to the contrary, we could have a narrow outlook on things. Ozpetek proposes you a plot of lives in which each character has a fundamental part for a correct understanding: by the way the movie tells about only a history: that of Emma, who lives an unquiet life but something is going to change: she is going to spend "a perfect day", although several problems lied to work, to her love-story and her children. But she's going to realize that destiny claim a considerable wage in exchange for a "fee Saturday"... Let me say it: it's a perfect plot: to the end everything will be clean; you only must pay attention to the order of events, and forget to see a comedy, that's obvious!

excerpt, full review at my location - Based on Italian writer Melania Mazzucco's popular novel of the same title, A Perfect Day is a powerful feature from distinguished director Ferzan Ozpetek. The film features a strong ensemble cast spread across several narrative threads, including a 2008 Venice Film Festival Best Actress winning turn by Isabella Ferrari.

With some fine central performances from Valerio Mastandrea and the award- winning Isabella Ferrari, Ferzan Ozpetek's film adaptation of A Perfect Day is an interesting if overambitious film that just doesn't quite work as a whole. Redundant subplots and a relentlessly bleak outlook make this a tough watch even during its most interesting central focus of a family in meltdown.