The Unknown Woman: Grade B

B
The Unknown Woman (2006)
Kseniya Rappoport, Clara Dossena; Co-writer and director Giuseppe Tornatore. (Italian, subtitled).

A young Ukranian woman (Rappoport) searches for work as a cleaning woman in northern Italy. Gradually we discover that it is not just any work she wants; she must work in a particular apartment building. Then by hook and crook, she wheedles her way into a position as a maid/nanny for a particular family. Why she is stalking this family, we do not know, but the tension is palpable. Through a series of brief but graphic flashbacks, we discover that she had been a sex slave in the Ukraine. She escaped by killing her boss in a gory, blood-soaked scene, and she took his stash of cash also. Inevitably, the Ukrainian bad guys are after her and the money. Slowly we learn why she is interested the Italian family, and at the same time is pursued by her old Ukranian boss, despite him being dead (she has to kill him again). It makes no sense at all. There are many other inexplicable non-sequiturs in the story and the ending is particularly unsatisfying. The brutal violence in the sex slavery scenes is hard to take, but it is integral to the story and not merely exploitative.

The pace is too slow, as European movies are for Americans. I could easily have edited 30 minutes out of the two hour run time. On the plus side, the movie is beautiful. It is very finely directed (Tornatore did Cinema Paradiso), and superbly acted. Sets and costumes are perfect. The story has just enough direction to carry us through the scenes, even if it does not add up in the end. You watch this movie for the exquisite acting, excellent directing, thoughtful photography, and lovely language. Overall, it is a worthwhile and memorable movie experience.

Don't Move: Grade D

D
Don’t Move (2004)
Penelope Cruz, Sergio Castellito; Director Sergio Castellito. (Italian, subtitled)

This was Cruz’s breakthrough to stardom and it is worth watching just to see what she looks like without makeup and before her face work. Her performance is good, as is Castellito’s but the story is weak and I never believed in the relationship between the two main characters. A married surgeon from the city has a car breakdown in the country. He meets Cruz and asks to use her phone but then rapes her. Great way to start a relationship. Weeks later he returns to apologize but ends up having sex with her again. She submits passively and unenthusiastically for reasons unknown. He doesn’t even bother to take off his pants when he does her. Actually there is very little nudity in the film. Similar episodes are repeated several times until they are in a sort of default “relationship.” Few words are ever spoken between them. Meanwhile, his daughter is injured in a traffic accident and he is upset by that. Finally, both women get pregnant, his wife and his country lover. You would think that as a doctor he would have some clue about how such things work. Everybody is thrown into crisis and the ending is somewhere between despairing and tragic. The cinematography is good, scenery is good. It is a very slow movie since only about three events happen in the whole 90 minutes. It is billed as “erotic” but I found it to be anything but. You can see the spark of life in Cruz however that eventually made her into a big star.