La sconosciuta (Giuseppe Tornatore)
03-11-07, 01:20 AM
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La sconosciuta (Giuseppe Tornatore)
A quick note that Giuseppe Tornatore's (Cinema Paradiso) latest film La sconosciuta is set to be released in Italy on April 18th. In two versions: a SE-2DVD set and a single-disc edition. Preliminary info indicates English subs for the main feature (will try to confirm in the next couple of days).
Pro-B
03-11-07, 01:22 AM
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is Tornatore still making Paradiso type movies or has he done something different lately ?
I'm not a very big fan of Paradiso, in fact I quite disliked it (except the ending which was pure genius), but I'd be interested in seeing if he has anoter card up his sleeve.
I'm not a very big fan of Paradiso, in fact I quite disliked it (except the ending which was pure genius), but I'd be interested in seeing if he has anoter card up his sleeve.
03-11-07, 01:58 AM
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Despite my efforts to see this film while abroad I couldn't. So, I have no opinion to share with you (though you can bet on me having one as soon as the disc arrives). In the meantime all I could do is repost Deborah Young's blurb for Variety:
Giuseppe Tornatore's best films, ever since early features "The Professor" and "Cinema Paradiso," have been marked by a strong emotional focus; in this sense, at least, "The Unknown" ranks as a return to hardball for a director who sank into meandering mood pieces in the '90s until his last film six years ago, the drooling Monica Bellucci vehicle "Malena." Current pic brings peaks of violence and suspense to the vivid story of a young East European prostitute-turned-cleaning lady intent on carrying out a mysterious mission in Italy. Calculated thriller elements could bring back many fans.
On the other hand, the film has major problems blending the strong social theme of exploitation and white slavery with Tornatore's noirish screenplay, full of holes and improbabilities. The Medusa release was well-received by local press on its competition bow at the Rome Film Festival, indicating it will benefit from critical support domestically, but it will probably have trouble drumming up more than a mixed response abroad, where tighter scripting is expected in a thriller.
Startling opener takes place on a kind of private stage where trios of masked young women clad only in underwear and high heels are evaluated by an unseen man, like a director doing casting. Only much later is it clear this sinister rehearsal, shot in a Kubrick-like brew of surreal neon colors, involves a client selecting a hooker for a very special purpose.
The blonde he picks is Irina (Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport), and her backstory, skillfully woven into the film by editor Massimo Quaglia, is the typical one of a Ukrainian girl drawn into an international prostitution ring. In Irina's haunted memories, she is raped, tortured and put on the street by a bald brute known as Mold (Michele Placido), who also kills her boyfriend.
Present-day Irina is a mousy brunette of 32 who finds an underpaid job cleaning the stairs in an old apartment building populated by jewelers. Despite her humble pose, she walks around with a wad of cash in her pocket and is able to rent an expensive apartment, right across the street from the warring Adachers (Claudia Gerini and Pierfrancesco Favino) and their little girl Thea (Clara Dossena.) Irina worms her way into their home and into Thea's affections. Her unknown motive keeps the story suspensefully on edge all the way to the overwritten, very unlikely revelation scenes at the end.
Scenes of violence against women and children leave a very unpleasant taste, though their repulsiveness is almost certainly deliberate. Mold's humiliation of Irina is truly distasteful. In turn, Irina has become one tough customer to survive. When she decides to teach little Thea how to defend herself from bullies at school, her methods are rather sickening.
Despite the odds, Rappoport shows an impressive ability to keep the audience on her side. Her Irina qualifies as one of the most deeply nuanced film portraits of a woman who has lived through the hell of human slavery. Even after she manufactures an accident to get rid of the Adachers' nice live-in maid Gina (Piera Degli Esposti), Irina is complex enough to stay on this side of total villainy.
Well-cast in supporting roles are the cream of Italian cinema, from Gerini and Favino as the parents to Alessandro Haber as a sleazy doorman. A monstrously made-up Placido gleefully throws himself into the role of Irina's brutal torturer; at the other extreme, stage thesp Degli Esposti is a warm presence as the ill-fated maid. Angela Molina (as a midwife) and Margherita Buy (a lawyer) flash by in mini-cameos.
Pompously solemn at times, at others sinisterly noirish, pic is tarted up with an invasive Ennio Morricone score that bears more than a passing resemblance to vintage Bernard Herrmann. Fabio Zamarion's lensing lends a rich, slightly oppressive atmosphere, like the eye-candy sets by Tonino Zera. Action was shot largely in Trieste, but its old-world beauty has been disguised as a fictitious town in the north.
Pro-B
Giuseppe Tornatore's best films, ever since early features "The Professor" and "Cinema Paradiso," have been marked by a strong emotional focus; in this sense, at least, "The Unknown" ranks as a return to hardball for a director who sank into meandering mood pieces in the '90s until his last film six years ago, the drooling Monica Bellucci vehicle "Malena." Current pic brings peaks of violence and suspense to the vivid story of a young East European prostitute-turned-cleaning lady intent on carrying out a mysterious mission in Italy. Calculated thriller elements could bring back many fans.
On the other hand, the film has major problems blending the strong social theme of exploitation and white slavery with Tornatore's noirish screenplay, full of holes and improbabilities. The Medusa release was well-received by local press on its competition bow at the Rome Film Festival, indicating it will benefit from critical support domestically, but it will probably have trouble drumming up more than a mixed response abroad, where tighter scripting is expected in a thriller.
Startling opener takes place on a kind of private stage where trios of masked young women clad only in underwear and high heels are evaluated by an unseen man, like a director doing casting. Only much later is it clear this sinister rehearsal, shot in a Kubrick-like brew of surreal neon colors, involves a client selecting a hooker for a very special purpose.
The blonde he picks is Irina (Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport), and her backstory, skillfully woven into the film by editor Massimo Quaglia, is the typical one of a Ukrainian girl drawn into an international prostitution ring. In Irina's haunted memories, she is raped, tortured and put on the street by a bald brute known as Mold (Michele Placido), who also kills her boyfriend.
Present-day Irina is a mousy brunette of 32 who finds an underpaid job cleaning the stairs in an old apartment building populated by jewelers. Despite her humble pose, she walks around with a wad of cash in her pocket and is able to rent an expensive apartment, right across the street from the warring Adachers (Claudia Gerini and Pierfrancesco Favino) and their little girl Thea (Clara Dossena.) Irina worms her way into their home and into Thea's affections. Her unknown motive keeps the story suspensefully on edge all the way to the overwritten, very unlikely revelation scenes at the end.
Scenes of violence against women and children leave a very unpleasant taste, though their repulsiveness is almost certainly deliberate. Mold's humiliation of Irina is truly distasteful. In turn, Irina has become one tough customer to survive. When she decides to teach little Thea how to defend herself from bullies at school, her methods are rather sickening.
Despite the odds, Rappoport shows an impressive ability to keep the audience on her side. Her Irina qualifies as one of the most deeply nuanced film portraits of a woman who has lived through the hell of human slavery. Even after she manufactures an accident to get rid of the Adachers' nice live-in maid Gina (Piera Degli Esposti), Irina is complex enough to stay on this side of total villainy.
Well-cast in supporting roles are the cream of Italian cinema, from Gerini and Favino as the parents to Alessandro Haber as a sleazy doorman. A monstrously made-up Placido gleefully throws himself into the role of Irina's brutal torturer; at the other extreme, stage thesp Degli Esposti is a warm presence as the ill-fated maid. Angela Molina (as a midwife) and Margherita Buy (a lawyer) flash by in mini-cameos.
Pompously solemn at times, at others sinisterly noirish, pic is tarted up with an invasive Ennio Morricone score that bears more than a passing resemblance to vintage Bernard Herrmann. Fabio Zamarion's lensing lends a rich, slightly oppressive atmosphere, like the eye-candy sets by Tonino Zera. Action was shot largely in Trieste, but its old-world beauty has been disguised as a fictitious town in the north.
Pro-B
07-06-08, 10:52 PM
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Exceptional! The Italian disc is top notch, English friendly. If you don't want to pay a bit more, though I would, the R1 disc is just around the corner.
Ciao,
Pro-B
Ciao,
Pro-B
07-07-08, 06:13 PM
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Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist
Exceptional! The Italian disc is top notch, English friendly. If you don't want to pay a bit more, though I would, the R1 disc is just around the corner.
Ciao,
Pro-B
Ciao,
Pro-B
07-08-08, 01:12 AM
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I have not seen a set US date for this film yet. But the film has been making its rounds for awhile now and I would look for a DVD release this winter.
The US distrib is Outsider Pictures:
http://outsiderpictures.us/
And you could see whether or not an Oscar entry from last year has gotten a US distrib here:
http://www.thefilmexperience.net/Awa...reignfton.html
Pro-B
The US distrib is Outsider Pictures:
http://outsiderpictures.us/
And you could see whether or not an Oscar entry from last year has gotten a US distrib here:
http://www.thefilmexperience.net/Awa...reignfton.html
Pro-B
07-26-09, 09:06 PM
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This film was just released to R1 U.S. DVD via Image this past Tuesday. An outstanding movie, and yet the release to U.S. DVD seems to have been rather under the radar...and with lousy cover art that makes it look like some sort of lame direct-to-video ghost/horror story. I don't have any confirmed info. regarding the R1 technical specs, so perhaps it falls short of other import options...I don't know. Anyway, this new R1 release can be had for under $15 during the current DD 25% sale.
This film was just released to R1 U.S. DVD via Image this past Tuesday. An outstanding movie, and yet the release to U.S. DVD seems to have been rather under the radar...and with lousy cover art that makes it look like some sort of lame direct-to-video ghost/horror story. I don't have any confirmed info. regarding the R1 technical specs, so perhaps it falls short of other import options...I don't know. Anyway, this new R1 release can be had for under $15 during the current DD 25% sale.
07-27-09, 05:36 PM
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Re: La sconosciuta (Giuseppe Tornatore)
Thanks for the heads up, I've been wanting to recommend it to some friends. Glad I picked up the HD-DVD. Unlikely this will be released on Blu Ray here.
