Touches You

People are voting emotionally.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Rain plays a big part in this account of a doomed love affair. At the center of the story is Timoteo, a successful Italian surgeon, happily married, by all appearances, but hiding a deep secret which he does not share with anyone. The narrative begins with a horrible accident in which Angela, his teen age daughter suffers a bad accident while riding her motorcycle in the rain. Timoteo, who is told by a colleague about Angela's ordeal, had been at the hospital all the time, but he must yield to another doctor to do the dangerous procedure on her daughter.As he waits impatiently the result of Angela's operation, his mind wanders to another period of his life when he met, and fell passionately in love with Italia, a common woman from the country, now eking a life in the outskirts of Rome. They meet as Timoteo's car breaks down. Italia, who lives nearby offers the use of her phone to call for help with the car. Timoteo ends up raping the woman. The affair continues because Timoteo cannot bear to part without this woman, in spite of being married to Elsa, a beautiful woman with lots of class. The rough sex with Italia turns into an affair as he cannot seem to have the will power to break it. Timoteo promises Italia he will tell his wife, but he never even broaches the subject. Timoteo manages to get Italia and Elsa pregnant at the same time. Italia, who realizes Timoteo will never leave his wife decides to end her pregnancy, something that eventually brings her own demise, leaving Timoteo to suffer.Sergio Castellitto is a wonderful actor. In his second film as a director, he chose to adapt the novel written by his wife, Margaret Mazzantini, in this collaboration. It is a sexually charged account of a man who has lived through a horrible childhood as his father abandoned him at an early age. That event seems to be the root of all the problems in his Timoteo's mind. Having achieved success, as well as a good wife, he is hell bent on a self destructive journey that will ultimately ruin his life, feeling responsible for what he did to Italia.It is hard to understand what made Timoteo act the way he did. Perhaps the rage he has kept in check for such a long time, triggers a behavior that is out of character for a man of his stature. Having it all, Timoteo embarks in an affair that will destroy a woman that gave her all to a man that could not appreciate her worth. His guilt comes to the surface as he faces his own daughter's accident where he is helpless to do anything for her, relying on his close colleagues to do the job.The surprise in the film was Penelope Cruz who shows a different side from what she had been doing in the cinema. She usually casts a bland presence by being asked to play women out of her range. She is totally changed in this film in which director Castellitto must have influenced the way she is seen. There are a lot of symbols in the film. Italia is a sort of modern Cabiria, without her optimism and her attitude toward life. Italia is a more reserved woman who knows she is out of her league in her affair with Timoteo.Sergio Castellitto shows he has interesting things to say to an audience. The fact that his character raped Italia is hard to understand. He even asks a close friend if he frequents prostitutes. In Timoteo's mind there is nothing more than feeling superior to Italia as he rapes her. Yet, his own guilty feelings will get the best of him, when he realizes Italia loved him selflessly. The beautiful Claudia Gerini appears as Elsa, Timoteo's wife. Gianfilippo Corticelli, the cinematographer, captures the two opposite worlds of Timoteo's by juxtaposing them in ways that reminded us of some of the 1960s films in which the outskirts of Rome served as the background for a lot of them with the new buildings rising as future housing and then taking the action to luxury interiors. Mr. Castellitto shows he has learned his lesson in front of the camera and now moves behind it to give his fans a different view of things.

I didn't even recognize Penélope Cruz the first time I saw her. It was an amazing transformation. She is a poor housekeeper, but looked like a cheap whore.Co-writer, director, and leading man Sergio Castellitto, repays her kindness after his car breaks down by raping her. He won his third David (Italian Oscar) for his magnificent performance in this film. Cruz also picked up a David for her performance.Of course, Castellitto returns to the scene of the crime, apologies, and rapes her again. This time he treats her like a cheap whore by leaving money.Now, I love Cruz, but Castellitto has a wife at home, the ever lovely Claudia Gerini. She is definitely hot! Eventually, Cruz and Castellitto establish a relationship. He even takes her to a medical conference.Then things really get complicate with both women, and the film really starts to explode with emotion.

This movie was quite depressing but also well written and well acted. The subject matter is not for everyone, especially those who are offended by cruelty towards women in real life and on film. But all that aside, if you can stomach it, it's a really good watch. The story centers around Italia(Penelope Cruz) a peasant with a dark secret and the perverted doctor Timoteo(Sergio Castellitto, who also directs) whom she crosses paths with. I've been catching up on Penelope Cruz's earlier work lately and the verdict is that she is one of those rare actresses who can pull off any role. A true actor. She's like the Spanish Kate Winslet.

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.