La finestra di fronte (2003)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Ferzan Ozpetek

Writers:

Ferzan Ozpetek (writer)
Gianni Romoli (writer)

Release Date:

18 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Desire knows no bounds.

Plot:

Overburdened and stuck in a greying marriage, Giovanna takes to caring for the Jewish Holocaust survivor her husband brings home. As she begins to reflect on her life, she turns to the man who lives across from her ...

Plot Keywords:

Memory | Old Man | Love | Holocaust Survivor | Marriage

Awards:

19 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Giovanna Mezzogiorno	...	Giovanna
Massimo Girotti	...	Simone / Davide Veroli
Raoul Bova	...	Lorenzo
Filippo Nigro	...	Filippo
Serra Yilmaz	...	Eminè
Maria Grazia Bon	...	Sara
Massimo Poggio	...	Young Davide
Ivan Bacchi	...	Simone
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chiara Andreis
Veronica Bruni	...	2ª Tintora
Olimpia Carlisi	...	Donna negozio
Ohame-Brancy Chibuzo	...	Alessio
Carlo Daniele	...	Marco
Rosaria De Cicco	...	Barista
Luciana De Falco	...	Marilena
Barbara Folchitto
Francesca Gamba
Benedetta Gargari	...	Martina
Enrico Grassi	...	Vittorio
Serena Habtom Mehari	...	Microbo
Flavio Insinna	...	Uomo forno
Elisabeth Kaza	...	Padrona negozio
Patrizia Loreti	...	1ª Tintora
Francesco Martino
Caterina Quaranta
Maurizio Romoli	...	La spia
Giorgio Sgobbi	...	Barman
Thierno Thiam
Billo Thiernothian	...	Giambo
Claudia Verdat
Giovanni Verdesca

Also Known As:

Facing Window (Australia) (International: English title)
Facing Windows (USA)
Karsi pencere (Turkey: Turkish title)
The Window Opposite (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

106 min | USA:102 min

Country:

Italy | Turkey | Portugal | UK

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Spain:13 | Chile:Y7 | South Korea:15 | Italy:T | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:M18 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Brazil:14 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Ponte Sisto, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

R&C Produzioni

Trivia:

Massimo Girotti died on 6 January 2003 and the movie is dedicated to his memory. Before he was cast, Ferzan Ozpetek had considered also Jean Rochefort and Serge Reggiani for his role.

Soundtrack:

Chihuahua

Past and Present Sentimentally Intersects in Contemporary Italy

"Facing Windows (La Finestra di fronte)" is like a very European and more sophisticated take on "The Notebook," as it shifts between romantic and culinary past and present through the in-and-out consciousness of an elderly man.

The "Rear Window" eroticism is just one element that accidentally brings together tangled, stymied lives swirling around lovely, exhausted, frustrated chef, wife and mother Giovanna Mezzogiorno, where each child, man, woman, friend and neighbor has separate priorities and fantasies that annoying real life interferes with, from the practical to the political.

Each character and their ties are both delightfully and surprisingly complex and the actors are so comfortable bringing each to complete life that you think you too should be able to come out of the theater speaking Italian so naturally.

But this is a frank, gritty, contemporary, urban Italy we don't usually get to see, with multi-racial immigrants, underemployment and a Fascist past.

The sentimentalism of the live with no regrets lesson is leavened by the seriousness of the final revelations and the compromises that each character still makes.

The music selections nicely fit each character.