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DON'T MOVE
Directed by: Sergio Castellitto.
Produced by: Marco Chimenz, Giovanni Stabilini & Riccardo Tozzi.
Written by: Sergio Castellitto & Margaret Mazzantini, based on her novel.
Director of Photography: Gianfilippo Corticelli.
Edited by: Patrizio Marone.
Music by: Lucio Godoy.
Released by: Northern Arts Entertainment.
Language: Italian with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: Italy/Spain/UK. 117 min. Not Rated.
With: Penélope Cruz, Sergio Castellito & Claudia Gerini.

The plot of Don’t Move could have been taken from any soap opera. Married man meets poor girl. Married man abuses poor girl. Married man loves her for awhile, then leaves her, etc. But director Sergio Castellito has turned this dark love story into something broader and at the same time more intimate. From the very first scene, a bird’s-eye view of a covered body being carried into an ambulance in the rain, the audience is in for an electrifying ride.

The body is Timoteo’s daughter, who has been involved in a traffic accident. Scenes set in the present – while he waits at a hospital during her operation – and the past – his affair with Italia (Penélope Cruz) – are intertwined. The relationship between the wealthy surgeon and the hotel cleaning woman begins when he is stranded in the outskirts of Rome. She allows him to use her home telephone. After making a call, he rapes her. When he returns to apologize days later, he rapes her again. The sexual violence is palpable, and especially in the beginning, very disturbing.

Often Timoteo confides to his best friend. While they talk about sleeping with whores, the idea of morality or faithfulness never appears in their heads – nor does the film question them. It seems to imply boys will be boys. Is it any surprise then that neither Timoteo, Italia, or the film scrutinizes the implication of the rapes? Even the ending seems to reinforce this idea. Timoteo has suffered, it is true, during the course of the film, but he has also made others suffer. Once he is apologetic, all is forgiven. It is not perhaps what he deserves, and certainly one could argue about it for hours. But that is the final beauty of Don’t Move: it creates a superb conundrum about the complexity of sexual relationships, power, and class.

Eventually I found myself cheering for the couple as their relationship tenderly evolved. This is because of the acting, the raw and compelling feelings Timoteo develops for Italia, and the fact she, desperate for affection, is fulfilled when he is with her. Castellito and Cruz are so good they transform themselves into their roles. Cruz especially offers an intense, full-throttle performance. She is almost unrecognizable with her awkward gait and frosted hair. Roxana M. Ramirez
March 12, 2005