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Don't Move (2004)

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From Time Out London

When his daughter is left in a coma after a road accident and doctors battle to save her, surgeon Castellitto reflects on a life of love and tragedy in this Italian male fantasy, which is under the mistaken impression it’s a meaningful melodrama. Perhaps cultural values got lost in translation, but as Castellitto takes out his middle-class self-loathing by raping Penélope Cruz’s dirt-poor, symbolically named Italia, and treating his bourgeois bitch wife (Claudia Gernini) with contempt, we’re meant to be impressed by how complicated and sensitive he is for showing a flicker of conscience. Castellitto won Italy’s top acting prize for furrowing his brow with requisite intensity, while Cruz was similarly rewarded for slipping in buck teeth, dressing down and being grateful for his seigneurial attention. Castellitto’s showy direction demonstrates little sympathy for the women, all but drooling over the exposed form of the protagonist’s injured teenage daughter as she’s prepared for surgery. A perplexingly unedifying affair.

Author: TJ

Time Out London Issue 1804: March 16-23 2005

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User reviews of this film

Maria said...

Posted on Jul 21 2008 18:39 I think the author of this review needs to seriously address his or her analysing skills as well as the ability to criticise. Has this person even watched the film or read the booked based on this blasé account?
How this could be interpreted as an 'Italian male fantasy'? It shows not only the writers complete lack of imagination, but also any kind of respect of the author or actors in general. By saying that 'cultural values get lost in translation' is an opinion held by the completely deluded and uneducated, obviously this reviewer has been watching too many 'laugh a minuet' cheap comedy type films. I have watched the film and read the book never once feeling that I misunderstood the culture! The themes of love, denial and guilt represented within the film are universal, and you don’t need to be Italian to understand them. The story of Don’t move is a treat for anyone who watches the film or reads the book, and I would strongly recommend that you do.

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