Facing Windows

2003 "Desire knows no bounds."
7.2| 1h46m| R| en| More Info
Released: 27 February 2003 Released
Producted By: Clap Filmes
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Overburdened and stuck in a greying marriage, Giovanna takes to caring for a 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.

Genre

Drama, Romance

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Director

Ferzan Özpetek

Production Companies

Clap Filmes

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Facing Windows Audience Reviews

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
rowmorg This extraordinary work manages to turn an account of "une femme coincee" and her constricted working-class life into a towering statement about existence. It seems impossible that the story of a few weeks in the life of a book-keeper in a chicken "factory" and a man who checks the oil in a fleet of trucks at night could become a grand drama, but this is what Facing Windows achieves. How many times does this film give you a frisson of emotion, a shudder of insight? When most films can barely achieve one at all. Giovanna Mezzogiorno is remarkable in the lead role, balancing all the facets of her life, which has been a difficult one, because she plays an orphan, and triumphing over both herself and her relationship as the result of an unexpected friendship. One of those films, watchable again and again, that were made under a favorable moon.
Ruby Liang (ruby_fff) "Facing Windows" 2003 is a very thoughtful, gentle Italian film telling us how frustrating human conditions of the heart can be transformed by one another.Giovanna Mezzogiorno (also in "Don't Tell" aka Beast of the Heart) plays Giovanna the central 'heroine' - a young woman with plenty of mixed emotions, who is discontented with her (chicken factory accountant) job, mother to two children, wife to a husband who's night shift job schedule frustrates her, and most of time she shouts at him and wouldn't want to listen - yes, she's quite bitchy about herself, though finds brief solace when doing bit of occasional baking. Through the course of meeting the unexpected stranger that Massimo Girotti portrayed - Simone/Davide the old man at a lost, who seems to have amnesiac problem and was temporarily taken in by Giovanna's husband into their home against her wishes, yet her whole world starts to change. Writer-director Ferzan Ozpetek has a way of telling his stories, always full of humanity, foibles and virtues mixed together, turning out a thoughtful film never short of gentleness and the sharing of human kindness.There are side events, of course: the young man whom she now and then noticed across her kitchen window in the next building, the flashbacks and 'Déjà Vu' storyline that the old man Simone experiences, the delightful turn of events - those attractive delicious-looking display of cakes and cakes - what a baker's dream! Filmmaker Ozpetek, who was born in Turkey and lived in Italy, includes poetry in his films: he introduced Turkish poet Nâz1m Hikmet through his characters in "His Secret Life." Here, we get to hear Giovanna thinking aloud, talking to Davide: " I feel your gestures in mine, and I recognize you when you speak. Does everyone who leaves you - always leave part of themselves with you? Is this the secret of having memories?" The cast is just wonderful, of course, Mezzogiorno and Girotti were fascinating to watch. The music by Andrea Guerra complemented the cinematography by Gianfilippo Corticelli. If you'd like more of Ozpetek's work, try "Hamam: A Turkish Bath" 1998 (my first IMDb review posted on 10 January 1999) and "His Secret Life" aka The Ignorant Fairies, 2001.
Diand Many people note the similarity to Rear Window. But except for some peeping there is no comparison to be drawn. This is more subdued Schindler's List as a back tale in another tale of self-discovery and fulfillment of personal interests and love. One evokes the other, as Giovanna learns bit by bit about the horror stories of razzias in Rome and she starts changing her life. By far the best and most emotional shot comes when Giovanna looks from her friend and neighbor Lorenzo's home to her own home and life. Effective use of doors and windows.But that's it. There are no deeper layers, complex film-making or any other cinematic efforts at work here. It moves somewhat predictable to its end. To set it up as a mystery was still an interesting choice.Massimo Girotti fits here perfectly. But it lacks some coherence, an almost trademark weakness of current Italian cinema.
George Parker In "Facing Windows", a young mother's marriage is tested by economic woes as two men complicate her life. One is a handsome young banker with whom she becomes voyeuristically involved via facing windows across an alleyway. The other is a senile walk-away whom she takes in temporarily. As her divided affections become increasingly a challenge, she finds comfort and support as the old man teaches her about love, sacrifice, and pastry making."Facing Windows" is beautifully filmed and augmented with Giovanna Mezzogiorno's lovely visage filling the screen much of the time. However, as the plot thickens, it becomes so complex that empathy gives way to analysis and some of the lyric beauty is buried in assorted character convulsions. Still a worthwhile watch for anyone interested in Italian romantic melodrama. (B+)