DVD Review - Don't Tell
Don't Tell was the one Foreign Film Oscar nominee from last year that I didn't get to see in the theater. It only played for one week which is too bad. Apparently many critics didn't like the film (the same thing happened to one of my previously reviewed DVDs Sorry, Haters). But I don't take much stock in what a lot of the critics say because I have a mind of my own. And I can say that I really liked this film.
Director Cristina Comencini adapts the film from her novel entitled The Beast in the Heart with the help of screenwriter Giulia Calenda. The story focuses on a woman named Sabina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) who dubs television programs into Italian. Sabina lives with her actor boyfriend Franco(Alessio Boni) and at first glance everything seems to be normal. But Sabina is having some very bad dreams that indicate something terrible happened to her in the past. Sabina has a longtime friend named Emilia (Stefania Rocco) who is blind. They are very close but Emilia is in love with Sabina and wishes that they were even closer. Maria (Angela Finocchiaro), who is also a good friend of Sabina's and works with her, is bitter because her husband left her for a younger woman. Another interesting character in the film is Andrea Negri (Giusseppe Battiston) the colorful director of the television program that Franco stars in. Throughout the film we get to know more about all of these characters.
At the center of this film are Sabina's feelings about her past. Her dream conveys that when she was a child she was abused by her father. As Sabina has just learned that she is pregnant she feels it imperative that she somehow resolves this matter. The only way that she can do that is to discuss it with her brother Daniele (Luigi Lo Cascio) who lives with his family in the United States where he teaches college. So Sabina decides to pay him a visit over the Christmas holidays.
The film is very sensitive in its portrayal of child abuse. It also does a splendid job of exploring romantic relationships (including a lesbian relationship) and how complicated they can be. All of the acting is terrific. Boni and Lo Cascio will look familiar if you saw the remarkable The Best of Youth. They played brothers in that film. Mezzogiorno won a Best Actress award at last year's Venice Film Festival and she deserved it. She knows how to show real emotion without going over the top. One look into her eyes and you know how she feels.
I take my hats off to the filmmakers for making this honest film. I can only imagine what a mess it would be if it came out of a Hollywood studio. So critics be damned - I am recommending Don't Tell. I hope that people will see it now that it is out on DVD.
Director Cristina Comencini adapts the film from her novel entitled The Beast in the Heart with the help of screenwriter Giulia Calenda. The story focuses on a woman named Sabina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) who dubs television programs into Italian. Sabina lives with her actor boyfriend Franco(Alessio Boni) and at first glance everything seems to be normal. But Sabina is having some very bad dreams that indicate something terrible happened to her in the past. Sabina has a longtime friend named Emilia (Stefania Rocco) who is blind. They are very close but Emilia is in love with Sabina and wishes that they were even closer. Maria (Angela Finocchiaro), who is also a good friend of Sabina's and works with her, is bitter because her husband left her for a younger woman. Another interesting character in the film is Andrea Negri (Giusseppe Battiston) the colorful director of the television program that Franco stars in. Throughout the film we get to know more about all of these characters.
At the center of this film are Sabina's feelings about her past. Her dream conveys that when she was a child she was abused by her father. As Sabina has just learned that she is pregnant she feels it imperative that she somehow resolves this matter. The only way that she can do that is to discuss it with her brother Daniele (Luigi Lo Cascio) who lives with his family in the United States where he teaches college. So Sabina decides to pay him a visit over the Christmas holidays.
The film is very sensitive in its portrayal of child abuse. It also does a splendid job of exploring romantic relationships (including a lesbian relationship) and how complicated they can be. All of the acting is terrific. Boni and Lo Cascio will look familiar if you saw the remarkable The Best of Youth. They played brothers in that film. Mezzogiorno won a Best Actress award at last year's Venice Film Festival and she deserved it. She knows how to show real emotion without going over the top. One look into her eyes and you know how she feels.
I take my hats off to the filmmakers for making this honest film. I can only imagine what a mess it would be if it came out of a Hollywood studio. So critics be damned - I am recommending Don't Tell. I hope that people will see it now that it is out on DVD.
posted by Film Fanatic | 3:01 PM
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