Saturn in Opposition (2007)

Too much of everything

That was an excellent one.

Overrated and overhyped

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

few friends. different- commune stories. and the death. a film who seduce for the wise manner to present the fragility. for the perspective about friendship and love. and the broke of a circle. the sophisticated air, the status of pieces of a construction who becomes each a individuality , the looks, the touches, the tears, the shadows who covers, step by step, a kind of Paradise does Saturn in Oppposition special. not remarkable. only example of high craft of a real good director who explores, in smart manner, contemporary world from different sides, with profound delicacy. a film about need to escape from yourself, certitudes, the importance of refuge and the other. touching, bitter, seductive. almost strange.

I am puzzled by the tepid response to this film. My friends and I were fully engaged throughout, and completely satisfied at film's end. For me, art in any medium needs to be either 1) a transforming story or 2) so beautifully done that people are reminded anew of how amazing life is. This was a movie in the second category, a soufflé that needed a lot of elements to come together perfectly in order not to fail. And my friends and I found it perfect. The movie also needed to be well controlled to make up for the fact that everyone was so beautiful. It was one of those "This happened, then this, then this" - and I bought it all. I had no idea where it was going but I didn't care because it was going to be satisfying. On top of that, this was a movie I didn't have to translate at all. And on top of *that*, the characters possessed a grace of spirit that matched their considerable physical beauty. One scene, where the wife met the mistress, was a marvel. The director either picked people who had extraordinary brains and sensitivity, or else he's really good at getting a lot out of his actors. My friends had many telling details we needed to lovingly examine. Perhaps the reviewers who found it disappointing are young, or Europeans who have seen a lot of movies like this one (I haven't); maybe they've seen these same actors a lot, or know too much about them from gossip magazines. Maybe they've not lost a charismatic friend or undergone experiences together with a close set of friends. There were moments in my life that I haven't seen represented on film before and here they were. I liked having those moments represented honestly but also idealized - and yes, you can do both things at the same time.At least reviewer wondered what this movie was about. For me, this movie was many things: an astonishing display of ensemble acting; a set of character studies where each character seemed to have years of history shading every moment; a romanticized story about a kind of family not sufficiently represented on film; a story about people experiencing complex emotional states and not making a big deal about it. And there were so many beautiful camera moments! All in all, Mozart is a good reference point for this movie. So perfect that it breaks rules and still makes a good film.

Once again, Ozpetek introduce us to an unorthodox gathering in the shape of a family. The gay couple Perfrancesco Favino and Luca Argentero are a model couple. Lovely, talented, kind. The heterosexual couple, Margherita Buy and Stefano Accorsi are also kind even if infidelity and other obstacles complicate their life but only momentarily. Now, okay, it all looks fine but I couldn't quite figure out what was I looking at. The story unfolds without any rhyme or reason. Did I miss something important? Favino is totally credible and Argentero is eye candy of the most delightful kind. Ennio Fantastichini is funny and pathetic, Stefano Accorsi is Stefano Accorsi and Margherita Buy manages a very civilized matrimonial crisis. Serra Yilmaz does her thing, beautifully of course, but hardly new. The only surprise was Lunetta Savino, an ex hairdresser and Argentero's step mom. Her character brings a much needed truth to the proceedings. It is, perhaps, the best written character. Somebody asked me what the film was about and I couldn't quite answer. I think that's were the problem resides. If Ferzan Ozpetek had something to say I completely missed it. However, the beauty of the people on the screen kept me awake and somehow engaged.

I saw the premiere of this film in Florence the other night, with Ozpetek and a lot of the cast (including Accorsi and Buy) in attendance. It will soon have its release throughout Italy but I highly doubt (despite its esteemed cast) that it will make it abroad--for good reason. Having liked "Le fati ignoranti" and been less impressed with "La finestra di fronte," I came to this hopeful but with some reservations. The basic theme (though not the plot, which is too uninteresting to go into) is the same as in those other movies--that family is something one forms among friends and lovers rather than the traditional tight/strangling norms that define Italian family bonds. When Ozpetek really brought this out in "Le fati ignoranti", he seemed like a fresh voice in Italian cinema: unjudgmental, sane, equally interested in straight and gay relationships, kind with actors. Things haven't really changed in the intervening years, but his approach now seems a limitation, or rather, there's nothing to get excited about or involved with in this new film. The stakes seem low, the actors seem unplugged, the melodrama feels forced, and with no especially compelling central character (like Accorsi's in "Fati ignoranti"), there's no real involvement for the audience. Tears are shed, lessons are learned, compassion is shown. This could be a TV movie. It's only the sad state of Italian cinema in general that makes something like this pass for a serious drama. It's not really a bad film or a terrible failure, just something slightly better than mediocre. Is that good enough for one of Italy's leading directors?