lonely-chaotic-soul
The only reason that I didn't fully enjoy the film was the handsome character of Gojoco that was misleading. He seemed to be in love with Gemma that I had the impression it was about 'their' love story and hence was waiting for them to fall in love till the second half of the film. The film keeps getting better with every passing minute till the very the end. "The wierdest love stories are the best" it was said, and I say war stories are the best. It expels our deepest feelings and fears.
The poetic title of the film made me wondering about the meaning behind it all through the film. What is it that was born twice? first I thought it was pietro who was thought to be born by two different women. But then, at the end, it was still Pietro but because he was born in two diffferent circumstances. A very lucky war kid indeed.
garciauria
As another review stated, this is a "lovely overlooked film". Penélope Cruz' performance was exquisite. The story intense and beautiful. A story about obsessive love and motherhood. It had me from the very first image until the very last. Music is stunning. If you enjoy tough stories that take you from the sublime to the horrors of war, from the grotesque actions of man to the perfection of birth, this film will take you there and to so many other levels. I cannot believe that this film did not garner more kudos then it did. I don't even remember its release in the U.S. Cruz has done some amazing films and some not so amazing films. This is one of her amazing films. Accurate in its depiction of the war in Sarajevo and the ugliness that never got enough press, much like this film. I want to watch it again. See it!
secondtake
Twice Born (2012)The original Italian title, "Venuto al mondo," translates as "Come to the World," and I think it's a better title. Because this is an intense, emotional journey of several characters each trying to find a reality, a world, that is livable. Set in and around wartime Sarajevo, the large cast of characters interweave in creative ways to make a powerful if clichéd story that has significance for how we see ourselves in the worst of crises.It isn't always an easy ride. The direction, by the Italian actor Sergio Castellito, is pushy, as if he knew the story was big and he made it bigger. Actors overplay some of their moments, editing is forced to pump up the adrenaline. And the plot is pushed to an extreme as well—love, , conception, war, rape, mistaken fatherhood, duplicity, and rebellion. It's all here, and if it's what makes this movie worth watching, the screenwriter, Castellito again, is trying too hard.Luckily the momentum of the events is compelling. And the setting, in the mountain laced capital of Bosnia and the dramatic coast, is interesting at every turn. The acting, too, is engaging even if overwrought. The leading man at first is an American who is a kind of idealist and optimist (and who is derisively called Jesus Christ at one point, which is about right, as his last scene will confirm). Played by Emile Hirsch with unbridled enthusiasm, we have to believe him. There is no other side to his character, and the endless earnest cheer is necessary in the rough surroundings.More dour is the woman, an expatriate Italian played by Penelope Cruz. That they hit it off is not unlikely, and the odd, intense nature of their relationship makes up the first half of the movie. We see the bohemian artist set of the city, we pay a visit to her father in Rome, they consider children in different ways. The strain grows, but the relationship doesn't crack.Until a combination of infertility and war intercede at the same time. Here the plot approaches the incredible, even though the ravages of war, and the famous rapes of that particular war (this is the 1990s), are well known. The human spirit persists in differing ways in the cast, which grows slightly, and the plot becomes both more fragmented and more fascinating. It all crashes and burns and yet there is beauty and resolution, too, by the end, and something satisfying in all the sacrifice and compromise.It's not helpful, I'm sure, to say this is the kind of material that might have made a classic masterpiece of a movie, but that's what sustains this one —the best of it is really terrific. It's hobbled mostly by the inexperience (or just the artistic limitations) of Castellito, who had such a huge role in the feel and scope of things the great cast wasn't enough to compensate. And to note, the novel this was based on was written by the director's wife, the son in the movie is played by his son (from what I can tell), and the director himself plays one of the secondary characters. Quite the family affair.See it? Yes, if this sounds at all compelling. It's in some large category of romanticized love-war epic with "The English Patient" or "Gone with the Wind" or the troubled "Atonement," but at a very different level of success.
Mike-DD
I thought this was a beautiful story, but would have been much better told if the at-times unnecessary long-windedness of this first 90 minutes were shortened by at least 15-20 minutes.It's basically a love story that still manages to have its twists near the end, which I won't even hint at to preserve the beauty of the story. It's a story in which the Bosnian War plays a part, in more ways than you may think.The cast is excellent - Penelope Cruz and Emile Hirsch are brilliant as the pair of lovers, united in part by their seemingly obsessive need for a child - part of the film focuses on their efforts in that area. The supporting cast are pretty good as well.I'm not a fan of romantic movies, so perhaps that is why I found it too long. But fans of the genre may find the long-told love story more engaging than I did. For me, the last 20 minutes of the movie is what saves it from being yet another long-winded loves story. I'm sure you'll like it too (the ending at least).
