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FACING WINDOWS
Directed by: Ferzan Ozpetek.
Produced by: Tilde Corsi & Gianni Romoli.
Written by: Gianni Romoli & Ferzan Ozpetek.
Director of Photography: Gianfilippo Corticelli.
Edited by: Patrizio Marone.
Music by: Andrea Guerra.
Released by: Sony Pictures Classics.
Language: Italian.
Country of Origin: Italy/U.K./Turkey/Portugal. 106 min. Rated: R?.
With: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Massimo Girotti, Raoul Bova & Filippo Nigro.

This Italian kitchen sink drama crosscuts a tragic love story set in 1943 Rome with a blossoming contemporary love affair. A young working-class couple, Giovanna (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) and Filippo, discover an elderly gentleman lost and confused on the street. Filippo promises Giovanna he'll take the man to the police station, but Giovanna is startled to find the elderly man in her apartment later that day. Filippo swears he'll take the man to the police station when it isn't as crowded, but as Filippo is not a man of action, the stranger, Simone (Massimo Girotti) - the only name he utters - becomes part of Giovanna's chaotic household. She escapes to her kitchen late at night, smoking with the lights out, staring into the apartment window across from hers - the home of a handsome man (Raoul Bova, Under the Tuscan Sun's heartthrob). Her growing attraction to her upscale neighbor parallels the unfolding mystery of Simone's identity.

By far the most moving and believable performance is by Massimo Girotti (the lead in Visconti's Ossessione), who died shortly after making this film. It is a credit to Girotti's performance that he remains believable even when his character becomes lucid overnight. Unfortunately, the chemistry between Giovanna and the-man-next-door merely simmers. Her husband Filippo, though a man-child, doesn't seem all that bad, so her need to escape from her marriage doesn't seem strong enough. After the first third of the film, Filippo virtually disappears, and so does the tension from Giovanna's conflict. And the failure to care about her fate lies in Mezzogiorno's guarded, sullen performance. Angry and resigned throughout, Mezzogiorno remains unaltered even with the opportunity of a second chance at love. As in Ozpetek's last film, His Secret Life (Le Fate Ignoranti), issues are too easily and abruptly resolved. He unconvincingly parallels Simone's fate with Giovanna's, and hers dramatically fails in comparison. Kent Turner
June 18, 2004