Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

gradyharp Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore both wrote (with Massimo De Rita) and directed this intensely powerful film about the resilience of the human spirit. It is a triumphant masterpiece of a film that somehow has escaped the eyes of the audiences here in this country. With this DVD it should find a legion of fine film aficionados for 'La Sconosciuta'/'The Unknown Woman'/'The Other Woman' as it is variable named. In a series of flashbacks and flash forwards the story reveals the history of a Ukrainian girl Irena (a brilliant tour de force of acting by Russian born actress known variably as Kensiya/Ksenia/Xenia Rappoport) who lives in a small village, has a handsome construction worker lover, but following a need for a better life of wealth and fame, becomes involved with the pimp Muffa (Michele Placido) who uses her popularity as a prostitute to fill his coffers while sadistically binding and beating her into submission as a breeder of babies for the black market. Irena finally attacks Muffa, thinking she has killed him, escapes and moves to Velarchi, Italy where she rents a small apartment across the street from wealthy couple Donato (Pierfrancesco Favino) and Valeria (Claudia Gerini) Adacher who are gold dealers and their daughter Tea (Clara Dossena) who apparently is suffering from a neurological disorder that causes her parents to be overprotective of her lack of ability to cope with aggression. First working as a servant and house cleaner Irena pleads with her employer to find her a better job, and that job just happens to be a new nanny for the Adachers. Irena gradually ingratiates herself in to the family, earning the trust and respect of the parents and especially that of Tea. In a series of flashbacks instigated by events that occur in the household Irena relives her gruesome past, devotes herself to training Tea how to defend herself, and in general makes herself indispensable to the family. But many twists and turns occur: Muffa is not dead and shows up in Velarchi demanding money, beats Irena, and causes a life of desperation for Irena. Because Irena is convinced that Tea is one of her babies she sold on the Black Market she does many things that turn out negatively: at worst she discovers Tea is not indeed her daughter and the events that follow are both tragic and ultimately redeeming Kseniva Rappoport is transcendently beautiful, immersing herself in this impossibly difficult role without ever losing our empathy. Both Gerini and Favino as the parents and Dossena as the daughter are consummate actors and the fine cast is supported by cameo roles by such luminaries as Margherita Buy, Nicola Di Pinto and of course Michele Placido as one of the oiliest, most hateful villains ever created for the screen. The effective cinematography, mixing the past imagery with the present, is the fine work of Fabio Zamarion and the musical score is by the always-fine Ennio Morricone. Giuseppe Tornatore has created a masterpiece of cinematic art. A revelation. Grady Harp

paul moliken not a false move anywhere in this movie. superb acting/direction. beautifully shot, yet disturbing, troubling, and brutal. a mystery, thriller, love story, but it's not simply about adult love, even though it's present;it has almost mother daughter love. murder, trickery,prostitution, thievery, cruelty, affection. stunning photography, great music, and a plot with believable twists. not a film that cheats the audience with false leads, implausible situations, or idiotic characters. great dialogue, even in the translation. not a car chase, snide, supposedly witty remark in it at all. some scenes are really difficult, but they are short snatches, quickly cut and edited. this one should rank up there with any recent Italian masterpiece.

sitenoise A little hard to follow and a little hard to swallow, this film by the director of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso is gritty and loose. A dark controlled chaos in skilled hands, it feels like an army of films rushing at you all at once. It's a bit overwhelming until the grabs you, sucks you in and won't let you go performance of Xenia Rappoport kicks in. She's a magnet in the middle of a mysterious mayhem. It's too bad that the style and substance of the film will prevent it from ever becoming popular because her portrayal of suffering and sheer determination is one for the history books. The woman's got chops. She moves like an insect through the undergrowth of her seedy milieu with an androgynous, unkempt beauty that's both tempting and invisible. She's able to shift her portrayal from one emotion to another, and then another, without moving a muscle in her face—a skill few actors possess. It's her story and we follow her through it not knowing exactly what she's after or what she will do with it when she seems to have it in her grasp. That's the unknown part and Rappoport plays the mystery for all it's worth. She works the complex narrative inside her head and lets the revelations drip out slowly, uncontrollably.Director Giuseppe Tornatore says this film is about a woman reclaiming her power as a woman (there's a great big serving of motherhood with that) after it has been stripped from her from every angle imaginable. Rappoport's character is the victim of a human slave trade that uses immigrant Eastern European women to make babies for the upper-class. She's gotten out of it, but with a lot of baggage. Some of it is misplaced and some of it is hurled at us in short, chaotic flashbacks in the beginning of the film (that's the hard to follow part), slowly unfolding to more understandable scenes as they catch up with her present life at the end of the film—a nice structural technique by the director.Roger Ebert wrote a review of this movie which essentially lists the aspects of it he thinks he understands and the aspects he thinks he doesn't. He scores a little above average, I think, which is about as good as anyone is probably going to do. There's a noir-ish component (not a stylistic one) to the film where major events and character traits are unleashed which are way beyond the reality of any mere mortal's life. There are also plenty of cause-for-pause moments when you will consider if the means justify the end. That's the hard to swallow part but I'm not complaining. It is a movie after all, and if you've read many of my reviews you know that I take all comers when it comes to plot gymnastics as long as they don't infringe upon the integrity of my players, as long as they don't cause incredulity to appear on the faces of the actors because they don't believe the script. Giuseppe Tornatore is lucky, or smart, to have enlisted an actress with the strength of Xenia Rappoport. ET coulda popped in here and I don't think she would have missed a beat.Speaking of beats, Ennio Morricone scored this film with superbly.

aharmas Tornatore has already earned a spot in cinema's hall of fame with its tribute to the movies. He certainly took his time to come up with a film that comes close to match the masterpiece "Paradiso" is, and he might have surpassed it with its emotional impact. "Paradiso" builds on nostalgia and sweetness; "Woman" is a raw, better executed project that explores emotions ranging from sweetness to plain, relentless evil.Kseniya Rappoport plays the title role and does what very few actresses have ever managed to do, a nearly flawless performance, a role of such magnitude and complexity that might serve as inspiration for future generations in the way Vivien Leigh and Meryl Streep set the bar before in "Gone With the Wind" and "Sophie's Choice". Both of those films introduced women who survived, without ever allowing their spirits to become sad entities. Instead, they thrived in the devastating circumstances of each's ordeal. Irena is another survivor, one that can't allow anything to lose her focus. She is driven to recover some of the happiness she found and lost, and with her new "family" she might just do that.Tornatore's storytelling is not linear, and it is one hell of a story, one that will grab your interest, squeeze your heart until it begs for mercy, and one that is bound to provoke more than a few uncomfortable reactions in the audience, as it unfolds each of its many layers. It is modern day Italy, and a woman shows up in a building, asking for work in order to survive. Soon, we learn she has apparently more than enough resources to do very well on her own, but she has a rather dark and traumatizing past, one that is still haunting her, and as we eventually discover, one that might prove to be lethal to a few people in the story.Irena is a formidable woman, a determined fighter who learns quickly and uses her resources fearlessly. She is no superwoman, and eventually learns that her past is still very much affecting her current decisions. Watching the movie, it is hard to keep your eyes away from Irena, as she slowly gets closer and closer to her goal. As we observe her actions and arrive to the heart stopping final minutes of the film, we also wonder what is it that kept her trapped for so many years since she is so able to manipulate people in her current incarnation. It is the only time we question the character's make up, yet we can also remember that Darwin argues the fittest will survive.The film is a work of exquisite writing and editing, with sure direction by Tornatore and one superb score by Ennio Morricone, one that only adds more power to individual scene and is as memorable as some his classic compositions. "Woman" is guaranteed to keep your eyes glued to the screen, and pretty much like "4 Months, 3 Weekss, and 2 Days" last year will leave you gasping for air and reaching for your heart, as we become witness to a story that will pull you its powerful reach but will also repulse because of some dark elements in the make up of human nature.It is an instant classic!