KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

m_ats Seeing the poor cinematographic qualities of this movie, I pondered for a while whether it was intentional or not for the director to make this movie look like a soap opera. Given that Franco, in the movie, is a soap opera comedian, and he has discussions with his director about theatre and cinema vs TV.I thought there was some kind of clever smart-ass postmodern metaphor about the movie itself, to it. And I kept watching, and watching.. and .. no.. it never came.It really just is a cheap movie that looks and feels like a very bland soap opera.

yuwei-lin The director has written 4 books and directed 7 films but this is her first film based on her own book. She said it has been a challenging task for her to direct this film because one has to betray the book while directing its film version. It has been a difficult task for her to cut out many written in her book.In general, it's a well-done film about many unusual relationships: family relationships (including father-daughter, mother-daughter, father-son, mother-son, brother-sister relationships) involved in pedophilia, lesbian relationship, co-cohabiting couple relationship in an adultery, divorced couple relationship in an adultery. Exactly because of such a wide angle about relationships, the core element about victims/survivors of pedophilia has been dealt lightly but conscientiously.Very good acting from the supporting actresses Angela Finocchiaro and Stefania Rocca. The acting of Giovanna Mezzogiorno is less natural. The anxiety she delivers in this film is not that of being in a pedophilia victim-hood, but more of that of her impersonal and emotionless involvement.Two scenes I found unnecessary in the film. One is the (imagined) kissing scene of Emilia and Sabina. Enough evidence has been given (though later) suggesting Emilia is a lesbian, so no need of showing this scene. Another disturbing scene is when Franco was watching Sabina playing with his children. I found it redundant to show the detailed scene of Sabina's conversation with the children.In addition, the plot is well-linked through narrating all correspondences (letters and emails) between the protagonists. A neat idea.

Sherazade This is the first movie I've seen this year(2007) and it's not a bad start at all. While it did come out 2 years ago, I'm only getting to see it now not only because it's a foreign film but also for the fact that I'm so backed up on films I've said I would try and catch up on.'Don't Tell' was an Oscar nominee for best foreign film back in 2005 and rightfully so. From the theme music and the DVD's menu screen, to the opening credits and the whole hauntingly peering feeling surrounding it, I had a feeling it was going to be good. I have to admit I was a little lost in the beginning, as I hadn't bothered to read the synopsis for fear of ruining the suspense. Anyhow, it didn't take too long to figure it out.As the film begins, we meet a beautiful young woman named Sabina who is visiting a mausoleum and apparently is having a hard time dealing with the loss of her parents. After she finishes up with the legal proceedings concerning her parents bodies, she goes to work. There we find out that she is a voice-over artist. During one of her dubbing duties, she is visibly traumatised when she has to voice-over a rape victim but at this point in the film it's to early to speculate as to why a professional such as herself would feel that way. Later on, we meet her boyfriend Daniele, an actor who seeming loves Sabina more than his own art. Things go by normally from here on, until one night after having sex with Daniele, Sabina has a very disturbing dream involving her childhood. Troubled very much by this, she visits her blind childhood best-friend the next day and tactfully tries to extract some visions of her past. But her best-friend paints a beautiful picture for Sabina. Times goes by and the dream refuses to leave Sabina, so much so that it begins to hurt her relationship with Daniele. That Christmas, she decides to fly to America to visit her brother and his family and it is this holiday that unleashes all the skeletons in the cupboard and puts all the demons to rest.The director's attention to detail is perhaps the most stunningly admirable aspect of the film. Everything you see or might take for granted is actually very vital to the story, and in case you miss some things while watching, don't worry they will fall into place and make sense by the end of the film. There was a shot in the beginning where Sabina was running through a cemetery and the camera kept noting all the defaced and mutilated gravestones, statues etc. etc. Even when the camera finally rests on a seemingly normal monument from the front, it's later revealed to damaged from behind. Sabina's perhaps sums it up best when she said "families are all about seeming...you never know what's true or not" and that's just the way the film was shot as well. You never know what's really real and what's not. The thing I took away from watching this is that no matter how low you may think you've reached in your life, no matter how damaged you are, there's always a chance to reinvent yourself and silence the demons from the past.

eapplebaum This film was an amateur job at best. I would have expected more than a melo-dramatic soap opera to tell the story of such a sensitive subject. I've seen more talented first time directors and writers do a whole hell of a lot better then these seasoned soap workers. A pity certain scenes were interesting and somewhat well done had no leg to stand on, hence they seemed comical in their brief moments and then certain scenes in their flailing over stated tragedy were completely worthy of only a snicker and a wave of embarrassment for the filmmakers to write and direct such a cliché and stereotypical portrayal of...well...Everything AND Everyone! SHAME on the Oscar committee for nominating THIS film for Best Foreign Film...what kind of Judges does that committee have??? Ex Soap stars? We need to maintain SOME kind of level of excellence to recognize great ability to truly create work worthy of Oscar nominations next to the likes of our greatest filmmakers and entertainment talent of intelligence, skill and creativity, not amateur soap "workers". Please. Movie of the week maybe....but an Oscar Nomination? Because it was made in Italy. WAKE UP!! HELLO!!