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The Unknown Woman (2006)

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore

3

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From Time Out New York

First, the good news: Giuseppe Tornatore’s latest movie doesn’t offer the kind of second-rate De Sica humanism smothered in Torani syrup that’s become synonymous with the Italian director’s name since Cinema Paradiso. In fact, after The Unknown Woman’s intro—an icky callback to Eyes Wide Shut’s baroque orgy—you may even wonder if another filmmaker that shares Tornatore’s name is calling the shots. It’s Hitchcock who’s the touchstone in this story of a mysterious Ukrainian maid (Rappoport), and the Sicilian liberally lifts from the suspense master’s playbook. Vertigo-inducing shots of spiral stairwells and meticulously edited stalking sequences are reproduced in bulk; even Ennio Morricone’s menacing score recalls Bernard Herrmann’s work for the portly Brit. The more you find out about why this servant is slowly insinuating her way into the lives of a middle-class family, the more you reluctantly submit to the movie’s surprisingly well-executed manipulations.

The bad news, however, is that Tornatore is unable to sustain tension once the heroine’s agenda is revealed halfway through, and what follows veers between ploddingly dull and unintentionally risible. Even Rappoport’s cunning, feral performance isn’t enough to patch up a script full of ever-widening holes, and when Michele Placido’s scenery-chomping thug shows up, all of your goodwill immediately goes ciao.

Author: David Fear 2008-05-27 18:09:35

Time Out New York Issue 661: May 29 -June 4,2008

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User reviews of this film

  • Xen said...
    Posted on Jul 24 2009 10:01 the most hearwrenching movie i have ever seen..touching scenes. a must see tornatore movie. full of love, passion. every humaqn being should see this classic movie
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  • Valentin Bart said...
    Posted on Aug 16 2008 04:35 A wonderful film that touches the soul on on many levels. Right or wrong, Good or bad. We are what we choose to be.
    Great piece of work.
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  • gio said...
    Posted on Jul 03 2008 05:00 One of the worst movies ever made. The child abuse scenes are unconscionable on any level, but the bad makeup, lame flashbacks, ham-fisted attempts at suspense and horrific acting make me ask, "PERCHE?"
    This movie won awards in Italy? They must have made them an offer they could not refuse. Absolute TRASH of the lowest order.
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The Unknown Woman

Cast & crew

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore

Cast: Kseniya Rappoport, Michele Placido, Claudia Gerini, Margherita Buy full cast

Rated: NR

Duration: 118 mins

US Release: May 30 2008


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