SnoReptilePlenty
Memorable, crazy movie
PodBill
Just what I expected
Ariella Broughton
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
yduric
'Le Fate Ignoranti' was released 5 years after Ferzan Ozpetec's first (wongly acclaimed) feature film called 'Il bagno turco'. In this first film, a married man coming to Turkey to take over a Hamam ended up having an affair with a young Turkish boy, but was stabbed at the end: of course, he was 'officially' killed following orders from his rival ruthless Turkish businesswoman, but I highly suspect that he killed his bisexual character at the end to render the film more 'virtuous'. In 'Le Fate Ignoranti', which was highly prized as a sensitive drama giving voice to marginal members of society, I cannot help but notice that he maintains, once again, the same kind of schizophrenic attitude: despite describing, sometimes in an explicit way, the gay behaviour of some of his characters, the film is at the end completely ruined by an incoherent and superfluous emerging romance between the wife and the gay lover of the deceased husband:so my question is: what is the point of explicitly describing the gay behaviour and at the same time turning one of his major characters straight at the end of the film? I definitely think that this director has a problem with this issue, and that he tries every time to transmit some guilt about it to the viewer. So I am definitely convinced that he has no balls, that he is unable to clearly take a stand once for all. And I therefore have to conclude that 'Le fate Ignoranti', due to its falsely 'virtuous ending', is ultimately a huge imposture.
rcashdan
I did have one problem, telling the many tall, dark-haired male characters apart. May have been partly so confused because I saw the movie with Spanish subtitles. It was quite a relief when One character was wearing glasses and obviously and obviously wasn't to be confused with anyone else.I have to admit an infatuation with Ozpetek's use of color, including the clothes the beautiful main female character wore, the many scenes highlighting the Italian love of food, even the glimpses of the affluent life led by Antonia. Even though once Antonia began her search she didn't seem to keep regular work hours anymore, I thought the scenes that showed her as a professional were a convincing portrayal of a woman physician.
Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman)
This was a chance rental, recommended by the owner of my local rental shop and it was a wonderful surprise. We are introduced to the perfect marriage at the outset, Antonia, the wife (played winningly by Margherita Buy) and Massimo, the husband ( played by Andrea Renzi) It is fifteen years along into the marriage straight out of high school and it is sexy and fulfilling, with a wonderful house on a lake, a full time maid and no children by choice.And just like that, Massimo is killed in a traffic accident and thus begins the story of the unfolding of the secret that he withheld from Antonia for seven years.In her detective work, Antonia, an AIDS doctor, uncovers another life that Massimo has lived.Enter handsome Michele ( played by Stefano Accorci), who lives an openly gay life, filled with friends, some straight, some gay, some transgendered. Michele is real, flaws and all and conveys the promiscuous life of a lusty gay male.Antonia and Michele fight a burgeoning attraction for each other with Antonia repulsed at times by his sexuality with other men. She also becomes bonded with his friends (she has made Massimo her raison d'etre and abandoned other friends for him) and slowly begins to understand his grief process.Nothing is drawn in black and white here. One senses that Antonia and Michele are right for each other. Massimo was never an intellectual whereas Michele and Antonia are. There are many layers to the story and some wonderful characterizations. The part of Antonia's mother is a particular delight as is the part of Serra, they both have their secrets too.I gave it a 9 out of 10 for the Italy that it shows, a colourful, complex Italy and the characters that clamp around the heartstrings and don't release for a long time afterwards. The only flaw was in the measly subtitles but at times my Italian was good enough to pick up the nuances and the unsubtitled dialogue and background.Bravo and Brava to all.
wonderfulfable
Antonia was living the life of most women would dream of. A good medical career, a loving husband, and a wonderful marriage. All that came to a crumble one day when he died in an accident leaving Antonia is grief and mourning.But an accidental discovery of a painting hinted that Antonia's husband Massimo has another lover. Burning with anger, Antonia sought to find out more about this lover. But there is a catch; Massimo's lover is a man, Michele. Which shocked Antonia more to realising that her husband had lead a double life; one a straight married man, the other a gay lover.
Through Michele, she learnt more of her husbands secrets. A circle of friends Massimo has known through Michele, drag queens, immigrants, gay men, quirky apartment neighbours, and also AIDS patients. This circle of friends shared a warmness that all frienships has. Her open minded curiosity led her to befriend Massimo's circle of friends. Indirectly, she has replaced the vaccuum left by Massimo's death. At the same time, there is a growing attraction between her and Michele, as both are brought closer together. She then contrasts her life with Massimo and then with this 'new life' she has found after his death. Furthermore, she has to address her growing affections for her departed husbands lover. Turkish director Ozpetek captures the warm bindings of this motley group of friends and in realistic detail in the confines of Michele's flat which serves as the groups meeting point for dinners and chats. The audience can feel the warmth emmitted from the togetherness of these people. A beautiful scene is where we see the dance party which is played to the tune of a slow song number overshadowing the dance beat in the background. We see all the circle of friends, Antonia and Michele included having a good time, bonding (yes even literal bonding!). Longing glances were exchanged between Antonia and Michele. This serves as a powerful scene and many assumptions or predictions can be made from this tease.There are many side stories to Antonia and Michele's friendship as well such as dealing with rejection, pain suffered by an AIDS patient. Some of these issues are delicately dealt and while some humorous. There is plenty of humour in this film. Never has it made me laugh out loud. We see quirky characters like Louiselle the quirky supermarket cashier, Serra the 'apartment secretary', Mara the drag queen turned transvetite, Ricky, Sandora and Emir, all of them add together the humouros elements and warmth. A special mention would be Antonia's mother whose opened and profound views on life and adultery really had my sides splitting. The main leads by Margherita Buy and Stefano Accorsi depicts two people coming in terms of both of their loved one's death are very well potrayed. The emotion and the passion is felt from these two actor's performances.Cheers to Ozpetek for creating such a warm and sentimental film! Almost made me shed tears when the ending loomed.
