Facing Windows

Giovanna (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) and Filippo (Filippo Nigro) are a young couple trapped in a strained marriage filled with hostility. He works night shift and has little time for her, while she toils in a chicken processing plant. Only when she is baking delicacies for a local bar does Giovanna recover some of the joy she abandoned when she gave up her dream of becoming a pastry chef. The lonely Giovanna has built a voyeuristic fantasy life around Lorenzo (Raoul Bova), the gorgeous young man whose apartment window faces hers. One day, Filippo and Giovanna encounter an amnesiac old man, Simone (Massimo Girotti), on the streets of Rome. Filippo will not abandon him, and against Giovanna's wishes, he brings Simone to stay until they can discover his identity. It soon becomes apparent that "Simone" is a concentration camp survivor named Davide, a gay Jew whose lover died in the Holocaust. Davide becomes the catalyst for change in Giovanna's life. She finally meets Lorenzo, and confronts the all the tempting options for love and fulfillment that now seem attainable.

Facing Windows is a visually sumptuous and powerful film that urges us not merely to dream, but to pursue those dreams. Director Ferzan Ozpetek, responsible for the acclaimed Steam: The Turkish Bath, builds a complex interplay of past and present -- and mystery and romance -- with masterful craftsmanship and emotional resonance. (Italian with English subtitles)

Robert Cargni