Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

jotix100 Anna, a young woman in Milan, is trapped in a loveless marriage to Alessio. As a couple, they function well, but one can see Anna is far from being happy in her present surroundings. One day, at an office party at the small insurance agency where she works, she spots a handsome waiter, Domenico, who is the opposite of what Alessio is not. Anna, for better, or worse, makes a tactical mistake in asking Domenico to join her for a friendly drink.Almost missing the opportunity to talk to Domenico, they have a brief chat where they agree to get another chance. Anna is stuck in that she does not have anywhere to take Domenico, something that also puts a burden on him. He is married and things at home with his wife Miriam, is not exactly a happy one, complicated by the fact they have two children and money is tight. Domenico, who appears to be new to any extra marital sessions, must use money that is badly needed in his household to buy four hours in a couples motel.Once smitten, Domenico and Anna experience a sexual encounter like they have not had in memory. Anna cannot get enough, and neither does Domenico. The result is a series of trysts where both must lie about the reasons for being late, or absent, to their married partners. Lust consume them. A week-end trip to Tunisia serves as a sobering reminder of what they have been doing and the lies they are now living. While Domenico does not want the affair to end, Anna has a different view. In the end, lust ran its course, only to leave them completely changed.Silvio Soldini continues to amaze us with every new film he decides to give his audience. This new film solidifies him as one of the best directors from Italy. The excellent screenplay was written by Mr. Soldini in collaboration with Diorana Leondeff and Angelo Carbone. It is a story about two people that find in each other the passion that is lacking in their somewhat orderly lives. The way both lovers approach the situation will mark them for life. In a way, this film, although more explicit in its sexual context, kept remind this viewer of David Lean's masterpiece "Brief Encounter" in which two decent human beings discover in the other one a kind of soul mate that destiny denied them in real life.Alba Rohrwacher is not a beauty to compare to anyone, yet, she is more credible and approachable than most of the Italian film goddesses of the past because the viewer can identify with her. Her Anna is a triumph in the restraint she shows, even at the height of her passionate lovemaking with Domenico. Pierfranco Favino also impresses because he is a natural for the screen. Domenico is basically a decent man who is drawn into an extra marital affair with a woman that stirs him like his own wife cannot do. Mr. Favino has the good looks the role requires.Others in the film in supporting roles are Giuseppe Batiston, having been in other Silvio Soldini's films. His Alessio is pure kindness. One feels sorry for what is happening to him. In the end, Anna realizes she has jeopardized her marriage by her own recklessness. Teresa Saponangelo, Fabio Troiano, Tatiana Lepore, and Monica Nappo are seen in supporting roles.The film shows us an unglamorous Milan, captured in vivid detail by Ramiro Civita who has a distinguished career photographing projects all over the map. Giovanni Venosta contributed the musical score. Silvio Soldini brings it all together in a film that adds luster to his career.

gradyharp COME UNDONE ('Cosa voglio di più', the Italian title means 'What More Do I Want') is a very slight film by the well respected director Silvio Soldini ('Bread and Tulips', 'Days and Clouds', etc), a story that seems to get mired in its own passion, unable to transmit a story line that will keep the audience's attention. Perhaps this is due to the 'too many cooks spoil the broth' concept: in addition to Soldini the story and screenplay were nursed by Doriana Leondeff, and Angelo Carbone. The cast is a strong one but the actors are just not given much to develop, leaving the audience with the repeated question 'what if...?' Anna (Alba Rohrwacher) is an accountant for an important insurance firm and lives with her longterm lover Alessio (Giuseppe Battiston) - a man who longs fro a stable longterm relationship with children, a home, etc. Anna, feeling as though the fire has fizzled in that relationship and takes up with co-worker Domenico (Pierfrancesco Favino) and the two begin a passionate affair. Now it is Anna who is considering a longterm relationship but is thwarted by the fact that Domenico is married to Miriam (Teresa Saponangelo) and has children and doesn't want to leave his wife, instead preferring passionate occasional intervals with Anna in tacky motels. It becomes a struggle of human nature - which is preferable, a stable home life or intermittent moments of passion? The actors give this film their all and the encounters between Anna and Domenico are incredibly sensuous. The problem lies with the story's lack of resolution or even momentum: it gets stuck in the process of offering a solution for the lovers. It is simply not up to the same standards as Soldini's other works - but those are fairly high standards to reach. Given the film's few flaws it is still a beautiful visual experience. Grady Harp

Alessandro Soprani Nice movie, although a bit too long, and somewhat stuck in the middle. The characters are very well acted, but the story concentrates too much on the two main ones, and they get a bit entangled in it, without enough elaboration on the side characters. It is a hard movie, with a dispassionate analysis of the contemporary Italian society which is quite accurate. Difficult not to be somehow touched by the story. I found the sex scenes somewhat disquieting, with their full account of complete intercourse between the two lovers, nothing left to the imagination, no poetry, just fire and passion, an almost animal frenzy. These scenes are functional to the story, obviously, and contribute to render it sad; they are necessary, in other words. But disquieting just the same. Anyway, good movie, worth your while.

simona gianotti It is hard not to feel rather sad after watching this movie, which stands out for the strong realism of both situations and characters. Realism is to be perceived in the difficulty of ordinary people having to live on precarious jobs, people for whom love and even more unfaithfulness seems a luxury, not so easy to afford. The movie reminded me of a French movie I have seen recently, "Partir", where a story of unfaithfulness and betrayal is one between a well-off but disappointed middle-age wife and a former convict. Different settings, different conditions, different endings, but same sadness. And the consciousness that whichever opinion one may have about betrayal, what is certain is that it's a dangerous means of self-destruction, mainly for women, those who lose more and find it difficult to start everything anew. The passionate love encounters between Anna and Domenico are marked by such intensity, preluding to an equally strong final sense of void and anguish. One may judge or not both characters, but some questions arise: why choosing to destroy oneself and one's family so easily? Why and what for do men and women hurt themselves? Probably unsolved questions, part of the mystery of human nature. Good, well focused and believable interpretations are delivered by Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher, supported by a wise direction, which lets the viewer see the bare crudity of some human relations, together with the sometimes incomprehensible nature of human behaviour.