ThiefHott Too much of everything

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

generalgeneral-13-754670 This is a film that ticks all the boxes in the genre. There's romance, mystery, laughs and sadness, atmosphere, a very good story, social comment, and great cinematography and acting. Not a wasted moment; everything is right and in the right place. Facing Windows is a pleasure to watch and then reflect on and discuss afterwards. It's always good to have entertainment that is a pleasure per se while offering some more intellectual enjoyment as well. And yet you cannot help feeling that these are ordinary people's unglamorous lives, that this could be me, or someone I know; these could be, or are, my problems too, my uncertainties, my difficult decisions. Özpetek has been a good director from the beginning, but gets better with each film.

Desertman84 Facing Windows is about Giovanna,a bookkeeper in a company which packs chickens. She is married to a man who has a precarious job. First she starts being curious about a young man who lives in the block opposite hers, and then she falls in love with him.The relationship between the two becomes much stronger when she starts to find out more about him from an old man who bursts into their lives.The old man, obsessed with the memories of some things that happened n the long past autumn of 1943,has lost his memory and finds refuge in her. The movie stars Giovanna Mezzogiorno,Raoul Bova and Massimo Girotti together with Filippo Nigro,Serra Yilmaz, and Maria Grazia Bon.It was co-written and directed by Ferzan Özpetek.In the film that touches marriage,sexuality and holocaust,young married couple Giovanna and Filippo have been married long enough to have become almost completely jaded by their lots in life, with most of their individual aspirations having been set aside some time ago. As their marriage begins to fall apart, the two encounter a strange old man who calls himself Simone since he can't seem to recall his real name or much about his past history. Filippo brings the man home to stay with them, which initially irritates Giovanna. Over time, she gradually befriends the confused old man and eventually notices a tattoo on his arm indicative of his being a WWII Holocaust survivor. Taking "Simone" to an old Roman ghetto, she helps him remember his name and his time spent in that very ghetto -- which includes recalling the very painful memory of his lover Simone's capture and murder at the hands of the Nazis. Meanwhile, Giovanna has been spending her free time impulsively peeping across the street at her attractive neighbor Lorenzo -- who in turn has been spying on her. Giovanna is thus forced to decide between Filippo and Lorenzo, as well as possibly realizing a long dormant professional dream that her new friend Davide may be able to help her undertake.This Italian film is one great one that it has many characteristics that would satisfy the viewer.The characters are compelling enough to make it worth the view.Aside from that,the brilliant cast generated fine performances and the screenplay was absorbing as well as it blends romance, mystery and fantasy to in telling the narrative from beginning to end.The only thing that would probably considered the film's weakness is its tendency to be melodramatic in some scenes that it needs to be.Overall,this is one great Italian film that would gives off a lot of pleasure to the viewer.

princebansal1982 I decided to watch this movie after watching Giovanna Mezzogiorno in "Love in times of Cholera", which is another excellent movie. I was prepared for disappointment but this was a very pleasant surprise."La finestra di fronte" is a romantic drama movie. It is an excellent combination of two genres and both the aspects are nicely balanced. It has several story lines that intermingle fluidly. Each one is carried to a satisfying conclusion but thankfully not a typical Hollywood conclusion. Instead things are resolved in a much more realistic manner.Everything about the movie is perfect whether it is acting, directing or dialog. Many serious issues are addressed but the movie never falls into clichés.

Ruby Liang (ruby_fff) "Facing Windows" 2003 is a very thoughtful, gentle Italian film telling us how frustrating human conditions of the heart can be transformed by one another.Giovanna Mezzogiorno (also in "Don't Tell" aka Beast of the Heart) plays Giovanna the central 'heroine' - a young woman with plenty of mixed emotions, who is discontented with her (chicken factory accountant) job, mother to two children, wife to a husband who's night shift job schedule frustrates her, and most of time she shouts at him and wouldn't want to listen - yes, she's quite bitchy about herself, though finds brief solace when doing bit of occasional baking. Through the course of meeting the unexpected stranger that Massimo Girotti portrayed - Simone/Davide the old man at a lost, who seems to have amnesiac problem and was temporarily taken in by Giovanna's husband into their home against her wishes, yet her whole world starts to change. Writer-director Ferzan Ozpetek has a way of telling his stories, always full of humanity, foibles and virtues mixed together, turning out a thoughtful film never short of gentleness and the sharing of human kindness.There are side events, of course: the young man whom she now and then noticed across her kitchen window in the next building, the flashbacks and 'Déjà Vu' storyline that the old man Simone experiences, the delightful turn of events - those attractive delicious-looking display of cakes and cakes - what a baker's dream! Filmmaker Ozpetek, who was born in Turkey and lived in Italy, includes poetry in his films: he introduced Turkish poet Nâz1m Hikmet through his characters in "His Secret Life." Here, we get to hear Giovanna thinking aloud, talking to Davide: " I feel your gestures in mine, and I recognize you when you speak. Does everyone who leaves you - always leave part of themselves with you? Is this the secret of having memories?" The cast is just wonderful, of course, Mezzogiorno and Girotti were fascinating to watch. The music by Andrea Guerra complemented the cinematography by Gianfilippo Corticelli. If you'd like more of Ozpetek's work, try "Hamam: A Turkish Bath" 1998 (my first IMDb review posted on 10 January 1999) and "His Secret Life" aka The Ignorant Fairies, 2001.