FERZAN OZPETEK

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB.5. 

Original title:  La Finestra Di Fronte

Italy/Turkey/Portugal/United Kingdom, 2003.  R&C Produzioni, AFS Film, Clap Filmes, Redwave Films.  Screenplay by Ferzan Ozpetek, Gianni Romoli.  Cinematography by Gianfilippo Corticelli.  Produced by Tilde Corsi, Gianni Romoli.  Music by Andrea Guerra.  Production Design by Andrea Crisanti.  Costume Design by Katia Dottori.  Film Editing by Patrizio Marone.  

Another lovely melodrama from Ferzan Ospetek follows the equally affecting Ignorant Fairies.  Giovanna Mezzogiorno is excellent as an overworked wife and mother who works a full-time accounting job at a chicken factory five days a week, while her husband has trouble keeping down a regular job. One day while running a routine errand, they meet an old man (Massimo Girotti in what sadly turned out to be his last role) who can’t remember his name or where he lives. After much arguing, they take him home and agree to go to the police the next day to ask if anyone has filed a missing report. Meanwhile, Mezzogiorno has been enjoying the view across the way from her kitchen window, where a handsome banker (Italian heartthrob Raoul Bova) romances ladies while she smokes alone in her kitchen in the dark. Once she starts to get to know the old man staying with her and finds out how trapped he is in his memories of losing his lover in the Holocaust, she begins to find a fresh outlook for her own life and starts to see just how her situation can become improved. Sounds like pretty routine feelgood stuff, but the pristine acting and excellent dialogue make for a touching viewing experience that never feels jaded or fatigued in its sentimentality.

Toronto International Film Festival:  2003