Facing Windows
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Filippo Nigro, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Massimo Girotti, Raoul Bova, Serra YilmazDVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-02
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of Facing Windows
Movie Review: Contemplative Drama of High Caliber...
Summary: 5 Stars
Windows have often have a symbolic value that some connect with looking towards the future, curiosity, opportunities, hope, and much more. This means that the title Facing Windows could suggest a number of different allegorical interpretations, which is for the audience's own analysis. Nonetheless, the title also proposes that a person who is looking through the window must take initiative by facing the window, or a symbolic interpretation would be futile. The Italian film Facing Window presents a visual experience that plays with the notion of dreaming and taking the initiative when opportunity presents itself.
On the way home, Giovanna (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) and her husband Filippo (Filippo Nigro) come across an old disoriented man who wants to give Filippo some money. Sympathetically Giovanna expresses that the man should put the money away and she tells her husband to leave the man alone. Despite Giovanna's plead to leave the man alone Filippo insists on helping the man, as they bring him to their home. Under Giovanna's protest, her husband lets the man stay at their home overnight without consideration of the children at home. The following day Filippo promises to bring the old man, who they learn goes by the name Simone, to the police station, but to Giovanna's irritation, the old man is still at home when she returns from work. However, there is the second scene in the film while the initial scene will make more sense after the end credits.
During the stay, Simone sits and observes the family, as if he is trying to recognize something. On one occasion, he watches Giovanna bake some pastries while giving her some good pointers. This is the first time she makes a connection with Simone who she is supposed to bring to the police station after she has sold her pastries at a local bar. She leaves Simone in the car while dropping off the pastries when her neighbor Lorenzo (Raoul Bova), whom she has been secretively studying from her window, informs her that the Simone has wandered off. With the help of Lorenzo, she finds him, but she is more interested in Lorenzo. Her connection with Lorenzo explores another more figurative meaning of what windows can produce through voyeurism, which is something Hitchcock dwelled over in Rear Window (1954).
Instead of bringing Simone to the police station she brings him back home, which is Giovanna's first initiative that will affect her future. She learns that Simone is a survivor of a concentration camp, as he has tattooed numbers on his forearm and she wants to help find someone who knows him. Simultaneously, Lorenzo intrigues her while her friend encourages her on to have an affair with him. Her marriage with Filippo also seems to hit rock bottom, as her husband is nothing like Lorenzo. On top of this, she has to take care of two children and work at a poultry factory as an accountant due to her husband's inability to keep a job, which has hampered her from pursuing her dream of being a pastry chef. Despite all her obstacles, Simone will help put things in perspective, as he becomes the catalyst that ushers her over the hurdles that obstruct her full potential.
Facing Windows displays several symbolic ideas through terrific mise-en-scene and cinematography that visually suggest hope, opportunity, and dreams. In addition, the cast performs with genuine emotions that brings out the individuality in each character. All of these intangibles are tied together in a fantastic script that cleverly produces authentic highs and lows. Through the ride in between these highs and lows the audience will find a captivating story that offers both contemplation and drama at a very high caliber.
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