odilem I disagree with the "very compelling movie" comment. It seems that I have seen these images so many times, too many times. I saw this film last night and could not believe that films are made in this day and age that serve to reproduce myths of masculinity and to cover up the epidemic problem of men's violence against women not just as "uneventful" but even as leading to love. Close to 500,000 women report having been raped yearly in the US and they do NOT fall in love with their aggressors. Even if director/actor Castellito is willing to shed light on a disturbing violent product of masculinity (Timoteo) in our patriarchal system, he offers no explicit sign of this and that message(if it is intended) is completely lost. Since every piece of media educates the viewer, all that remains to unenlightened viewers is that: - it is easy (desirable?) for men to rape women because women are "natural" victims and men are "natural" preys. - it is possible that women even want to be violated or have "violent" sex with their male partner whenever this male partner wants it and however this male partner wants it. - it is likely that women do not have any sexual desire of their own that would be worth showing on screen - vaginal/penile intercourse is the ultimate interesting sexual act. Pa-the-tic... Such films construct women as eternal victims with no sexual desire and as objects of men who are constructed as natural inevitable aggressors. Such images are troubling for both women and men. Regardless of other qualities this film may have such as excellent interpretations by all three main actors, the scripted message is just unbearable to any "responsible" human being of any gender or orientation.

Dennis Littrell Timoteo (Sergio Castellitto, who also directed) plays a surgeon whose car breaks down in a working class neighborhood of a great Italian city. Italia (Penelope Cruz) is a denizen of this part of town who lets Timoteo use her phone. She works as a cleaner of hotel rooms. She is crude, a little desperate, uneducated and so passive that she more or less allows Timoteo to rape her, a rape that she experiences without emotion, as something that society perhaps has taught her to accept as her due. Timoteo comes back a day or two later to apologize. He says he was drunk. He had drunk two vials of cold vodka while waiting for a mechanic to fix his car.Italia sniffs at this privileged man who took advantage of her. There is nothing she can do. Her word against his. Just move on and forget it. But part of her is wondering if there is more to his interest than the quick gratification of lust.He takes her again, this time though, it is clear that his passion is especially for her. It is something about her that turns him into a sexual beast, and not just the fact that she is a woman who cannot complain. It is interesting to note that when he returns and catches her carrying groceries home, she looks at him with some inquiry on her face, nothing more, no anger, no recriminations, no judgments. When he apologizes and says he was drunk, she swiftly picks up her groceries and turns away. She was looking for something deeper from him. She wants the reason that he raped her to be NOT that he was drunk but that he was so drawn to her that he couldn't help himself.It is during the third scene a few days later that she accepts his passion for her and finds some of her own. And it is after this third scene as she serves him spaghetti that he realizes that he loves her. The moment comes when he reaches for the bottle of beer on the table at the same time she reaches to pour it for him. They accidentally tip the bottle over, spilling the beer onto the table and floor, and their hands meet. He holds her index finger in his hand for a moment, and it is at that moment that he knows he loves her. And she sees it in his eyes.All of this is shown in flashback as Timoteo awaits the fate of his daughter who has suffered a massive head injury from a motorcycle accident and lies in a coma in his hospital. His meeting with Italia took place some fifteen years previously, or I should say it was a relatively brief but ultra passionate love affair that ended fifteen years in the past at the time his daughter, from the womb of his wife, Elsa (Claudia Gerini), was born. It was his passion for Italia that spilled over into Elsa that brought about the conception. Ironically--and this is part of the terrible tragedy of this story--Italia too becomes pregnant at nearly the same time. What Timoteo does not realize until it is too late is the depth of feeling that Italia comes to have for him. This is a love affair that, to quote the words of LA Times film critic Kevin Thomas, "makes most of today's screen romances seem undernourished by comparison." Penelope Cruz's performance is nothing short of spectacular. I invite the reader to view the special feature on the DVD in which she discusses her character with Castellitto. Here we can see the incredible passion and attention to detail that Cruz brings to her performance, and also that of Castellitto, who is outstanding both as an actor and a director. Cruz, whose first language is Spanish, must become this noble wretch of desperate woman who must speak Italian with a street accent and behave in way that belies her great beauty and the fine finish of her own character. It is a shame that most Americans only know Cruz from some television commercials and being Tom Cruise's ex. Penelope Cruz is without question--and she proves it in this deeply moving performance--to be one of the finest actresses working today.A couple of other points. Elsa knows of course that her husband had fallen in love with someone else. She can sense it in the new passion he brings to making love to her. She can deduce it in his absences from her and from the change in his manner. But she never says a word. That is interesting. Perhaps she knows it will pass. And it does, but not before Timoteo performs a "marriage ceremony" at a hotel restaurant near the place of Italia's birth with Italia, and with the "reheated soup" and the wine and cheese as witnesses, and not before he fantasizes aloud with her of leaving his wife and newborn child and going to some far off place with her alone. Only tragedy, it would appear, prevents his leaving Elsa for the love of his life.But time does heal this wound to their marriage, as Timoteo prays that time will heal his daughter. And the passion of yesteryear perhaps is the more glorious because, like a portrait, it does not age. And perhaps there is some solace in knowing that the love that one finds in a wife and a life's companion is different than that found in a fiery mania of long ago, but taken in total, no less deeply felt.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

Jonathon Kim This film has tone of emptiness, you feel you are floating inside of the main character, how he felt the life, those daily agitation, consumed feeling, anxiety and loneness at the same time. When his most unexpected time, at his mid-life crisis, he encounter a woman on the road, not quite attractive more frankly quite ugly, uneducated, lower class woman in Spain. As he forced her sex, he just passed the point of no return. His soul are starting to suffer from guilt, desire and denial. And he is starting to realize his life was vain as his fake identity simply known as surgeon, but he never been himself until just now.There is nothing new as far as romance goes, they are having an affair, fell in love, declare each others, then the tragic begins.What is extra ordinary about the film is, it is a love story from the male side, not from voice from female, its full of masculine and energy of male imagination. There are deep frustrations of modern day male, from what the society is pushing, and its hand-cupped male expectation,the pressure and revolt.The film denies all the traditional beauties what ordinary Hollywood love story offer in traditional grammar. There is no beautiful couple, they are all too real, they have ordinary body and soul, there is no "Titanic' or "Romeo & Juliette" style sacrifice, they are all too cruel to be lover as we are in real life. Also there is no scene that forcing you to cry.But this film will make you weep, not cry from eyes, but from the heart. It denies all the values what ordinary people would die for, fidelity, beauty and vanity, and in the end, it recovers the truth, that the love is real, no matter how it is tragic or sinful, it simply exists.Penelope is simply brilliant for the role, she shines every minutes in the film. If you have experienced or never experienced 'real' love, see this film, it will let you crave. for the truth.A crucified love story to save your soul.

kristinrulison This movie was one of the most beautiful and moving films I have ever seen! There is a fascinating and intricate balance between the characters and the effects of their actions. It is a study of the deepest of human emotions and the necessity for passion and unrestricted love.Timoteo is a wealthy surgeon who seems to have the perfect life - a beautiful wife, a luxurious beach house, the perfect job and a ready-made social circle. But these superficial trappings are not what he wants out of life. Notably, Timoteo's relationship with his wife is clearly lacking passion and true love. Feeling detached from life, Timoteo is reawakened when he encounters a destitute woman named Italia and rapes her.Italia is a woman of lower class who is most likely uneducated. A key aspect of her character is her appearance - a slight gape in her teeth, thrift store clothes, and an overall impoverished countenance complement her quirky personality. To the audience, however, there is something downtrodden and lonely about her. Initially afraid when Timoteo rapes her, she becomes attracted to the passion between them and their encounters become frequent.Passion grows into love, and both Timoteo and Italia are happiest and most "alive" when they are together. Italia saves Timoteo from becoming an emotionless shell and Timoteo returns the favor by pulling Italia away from her cliff of loneliness.The film isn't about sadomasochism or a "study in the devious sexual behaviours of some individuals who received devastating emotional shocks by their fathers in their early teens", nor is it "a study in sadomasochism". The sexual behaviors exhibited by the lead characters are simply a result of their mutual unrealized longings for passion and love. Though the initial encounter between the two was entirely physical and . . . criminal . . . the desires that grow between them develop into one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching love stories captured on film. Throughout their year-long affair, the intensity of their love is evident in the way they hold each other and look into each other's eyes. Timoteo also refuses to take Italia into the abortion clinic when she becomes pregnant with his child, a sign that he dreads the thought of potentially putting her in danger or destroying the life they had created together.Despite the argument that briefly tears them apart, Timoteo and Italia are reunited only hours before the tragic ending. Timoteo does everything in his power to save Italia though her fate is inevitable and she dies as she sleeps next to her lover.Red proves to be a powerful symbol of passion throughout the movie, which is beautifully filmed, most notably in the red shoes Timoteo buys for Italia.Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this film is that it is so realistic. Each character faces daily struggles that could have just as easily happened to anyone in the audience. The film appeals to the basic desires that each of us seek to fulfill - true love, passion and happiness - in the rawest and grittiest fashion. The film is as far as one can get from a fairytale love story, and the ending is far from happy. Timoteo learns to be content with his wife and loves his daughter with all his heart. Italia is buried in a simple coffin without a marker and Timoteo is forced to face reality and let Italia become nothing more than a memory and a lesson about the beauty and complexity of life.The acting in this movie was excellent; Cruz delivered an awe-inspiring performance as a character whom is far from Cruz's usual portrayals and Castellitto's acting and directing delivers a perfect balance of sadness and passion.Perfect 10!