By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Kseniya Rappoport | Margherita Buy | Michele Placido | Pierfrancesco Favino
Original language title: La Sconosciuta
Country: italy
Year: 2007
Running time: 118
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0494271/
Bruce says: “**SPOILERS**
“As the film begins we see Irena (Kseniya Rappoport) talking to the doorman of a luxury apartment building. She talks her way into becoming the charwoman for the public areas and soon she finagles her way into one of the apartments as the housekeeper for a young married couple. It would be a reasonable conclusion that her goals have been reached, except her ensuing behavior is indicative of someone seeking revenge. She is abnormally obsessed with the couple’s five year old daughter. Tornatore has given his film a creepy tone, like that of a thriller. He tells his story with jumpy flashbacks and choppy editing. All of his storytelling techniques belie the fact that this film is a serious story about young Eastern European woman who are sold into bondage and slavery and the baby factories which supply the black market for adoptions. Imagine THE MAGDALENE SISTERS made into
a thriller and you can see the problems with such an approach.
“In the end Irene tells the authorities, ‘Believing that someone like me could still have a future was my biggest mistake.’ The most confusing aspect of the film is trying to figure out how a woman form the Ukraine can speak flawless Italian, be familiar with surveillance techniques and spylike ploys, all the while endearing herself to those around her. With the extensive skill set she demonstrates during the course of the film, she would be more believable as a woman who is aiming for the Italian Parliament not one who settles for scrubbing floors and tending to infants. The acting is quite good but the script is farfetched and the editing, decidedly substandard.
“THE UNKNOWN WOMAN has recently won five major awards (Best Picture, Director, Actress, Composer and Cinematographer) at the Italian Film Academy’s 51st David di Donatello Awards. This indicates that the Italian cinema is either in a sorry state or that the earlier successes of director Giuseppe Tornatore (CINEMA PARADISO, EVERYBODY’S FINE and MALÈNA) have tarnished the objectivity of the voters. Maybe both. 2.5 cats
“THE UNKNOWN WOMAN screened as part of the 2007 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema program at Lincoln Center.”