Don't Move (2004) User Reviews

Why hasn't this film been released in the USA???

[SONNYK_USA · 8/10 · 6 June 2004]

Just saw this film at a local Italian Film Festival and it easily was the best film of the fest, and one of the best movies I've seen all year. For adults only, but worth the watch when and IF it ever comes to the USA (wake-up acquisitions people!!!)

Italian actor Sergio Castellito ("Mostly Martha") proves to be a more than capable director with only his second film "Don't Move." Although the film opens in the present with a motorbike accident in the rain, it quickly heads 15 years back in time in order to develop the main storyline of an adulterous young doctor who makes an odd acquaintance in the countryside. What follows is a highly interesting and complicated storyline that will enthrall adult audiences for the film's entire two hour running time. Castellito also stars in the film as 'Dr.'Timo', a surgeon with no moral compass who, while waiting for his car to be fixed, gets drunk and 'date' rapes a strange woman who up to this point has only acted as a good Samaritan on the doctor's behalf. This oddball beginning is only part of the atypical but highly involving elements that make this film so intriguing and may send some viewers to the bookstores to seek out the Margaret Mazzantini novel on which it is based until the theatrical release hits U.S. shores. As the two main characters continue their trysts, their relationship evolves from chronic, somewhat violent sexual assaults to full-blown lovemaking. Being poorly educated and of limited means, the woman, 'Italia', grows in affection for the doctor as his treatment of her begins to shift from victim to paid whore to lover to true love. Giving her most amazing acting performance to date is Spanish-born Penelope Cruz ("Vanilla Sky"), who not only shows a facility for the Italian language but also the capability of creating a believable portrayal of a basically, very unattractive woman. Italia has blackened teeth, overdoes her make-up, and dresses like a peasant (she's employed as a seasonal worker at a local hotel), but her firm legs are enough of an attraction to keep bringing the horny Dr. Timo back for more for years to come. The only false note in this scenario is the appearance of Timo's wife, the absolutely, gorgeous Claudia Gerini ("I'm Crazy About Iris Blond"), as the doctor's severely neglected wife.

Luckily, this pseudo 'madonna-whore' aspect to the the storyline is the only glitch in an almost perfect scenario. Although many Italian movies deal with the theme of adultery, this film portrays the growing passion between the lovers in extremely dramatic terms while continuously defying clichéd situations. Clever surprises as well as the parallel storyline in the present are used in a way that will stun viewers anticipating something more derivative. Certainly the most original Italian film-making that I've seen since the work of director Federico Fellini in the 50's and 60's, and kudo's to Castellito for both starring in and directing this marvelous drama which will hopefully get a USA theatrical release soon.

Sincere storytelling on the essence of the affair

[oneloveall · 7/10 · 17 July 2006]

Emotionally intense movie handled unflinchingly by lead actor Castellitto. This immersive character study into an unfulfilled doctor's love affair is a tad too lengthy and perhaps the director indulges in his on screen action a little too much, but the dedication that the two ill-fated lovers give to portraying the rawness of their emotions and instincts will, despite once in a while misfiring, leave few viewers unfazed. Penelope Cruz is great as the counterpoint, and deserves much respect for assuming such a demanding, unglamorous role at this point in her well established career. Obviously it is the love of acting that propels her(no comparison to her English jobs), as this mildly received Italian film must have been several notches down from her draw, but when you see the psychologically harrowing sex scenes (not always for the sex, but for the right before and right after) you realize why someone would be interested in such intimate work. As the film slightly overextends itself to reach it's climax which sort of dumbs down it's poignant theme, the performances and overall taste left are nonetheless real and life affirming despite all of it's muddied ramifications.

great movie out-casted in Portugal

[dianasoutobrito · 8/10 · 4 January 2006]

It's so unfair that great movies like this one are the ones that nobody heard off. Here in Portugal was one of the underdogs in theaters, for great pity of mine. If you have the idea that Penelope Cruz is just a pretty woman that lost her talent when began working in the USA, you're wrong. We can see a real actress in this movie, we can see what she can really do. It's a beautiful drama story, with simple characters, where a man, a doctor with a nice social position, married and supposily happy meets the woman of his life in the ugly, poor and incredibly sad Italia ( Penelope crux). All I can say is please watch it because it's just brilliant.

Cabiria in Italia

[Serge_Zehnder · 20 June 2004]

Note: Penélope Cruz' character Italia is, if at all comparable to Federico Fellinis work the legitimate continuation of Giulietta Masina's character Cabiria from "Le Notti di Cabiria", not Gelsomina from "La Strada".

Having said this I will briefly add this comment to mention that "Non ti muovere" is one of the two best films I have seen so far.

So another comment in favor of Castellito's amazing piece work.

Make up your own mind. In response to some of the other comments that suggest this is a study in S&M or that many viewers might consider this film "High Art", I say it's neither. It is basically a powerful love-story/soap opera that is beautifully directed, acted and edited and will either leave you cold and furious or emphatic and happy, depending on your sensibility. It's about finding life and in doing so finding something to believe in.

A doctor who has become the world's biggest pragmatist finally encounters a woman who takes away everything he once thought mattered.

It's Italian melodrama in its purest form. For some people this can be very effective, for others purely wasteful. There's nothing in between. But aren't these the movies usually worth seeing the most?

A predictable failure

[accercel · 6/10 · 11 March 2005]

Watching this movie I couldn't stop thinking of a great Italian novel, "Un amore" (probably translated in English as "A love") by Dino Buzzati. Both treat the subject of an impossible love, but Buzzati's is much more concrete and much better. "Non ti muovere" lacks psychological insight, the characters seem too void, the relationships between them don't have that something that would make them seem real.It's very possible that one simply doesn't get it. This could and should have been an interesting depiction of a middle-age crisis, of a person who just doesn't fit in the picture that it's his life, but instead it's a seemingly meaningless love story, with an unaesthetic Penelope Cruz, who, unfortunately for her is no great actress.

A perfect, moving and soulful adaptation of the beautiful novel upon which it's based

[vanillafan · 10/10 · 14 March 2004]

A couple of days ago I watched NON TI MUOVERE on its opening night.

Well, I think that it's a true masterpiece ... gripping, heartfelt, as kudos-deserving as the best-selling novel of the same title upon which it's based, written by Margaret Mazzantini (here she is the co-screenwriter and also appears in a glimpse-like wordless cameo, at the end of the movie), winner of the Strega - one of Italy's main literary prizes - in the year 2002.

The director and male lead Sergio Castellitto - who plays the cowardly ambiguous surgeon Timoteo - is as immense as always. He's also the other co-screenwriter of the movie. He's - above all - author Margaret Mazzantini's husband of many years. His was clearly a true labor of love.

Penélope Cruz is astounding, realistic and yet heartbreaking, enormously moving, totally disappearing into her character, who's a poor, destitute, cheaply dressed and unkempt woman named Italia. She cleans hotel rooms for a living and lives herself in a slum, but has got the purest and noblest of souls ("She's a toad in a miniskirt who teaches the Prince how to love", in actor-director Castellitto's own words).

Comedy actress Claudia Gerini - in her first highly dramatic role as the guy's betrayed wife - is very, very good herself.

Last but not least, the Castellitto-Cruz chemistry is amazingly powerful: much more so, say, than the Cruise-Cruz one in Vanilla Sky, enough said ...!

I cried my eyes out, even though I had read the novel more than once, therefore perfectly knowing the story!

HERE is a movie which I definitely want to watch multiple times.

As for myself, well, after two days I'm still re-living all the marvelous, emotionally intense moments which I enjoyed while watching this movie.

Really nothing in Penélope Cruz's resume will prepare you to what she does here, not even what I think was her best performance before this movie, i.e. Sister Rosa in Pedro Almodovar's ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER ... nothing indeed! Not to mention that she acts here in Italian language, and she commands it perfectly.

Just to get an idea of her greatness in this movie, here are actor-director Sergio Castellitto's words at the press conference for the movie, which took place in Rome on March 9th:

"Penélope is heartbreaking, she's as great as [Federico Fellini's wife] Giulietta Masina [in the movie La Strada], what she did for this movie is amazing: a lesson of humbleness, passion and courage. But beware! Her act of courage is NOT the fact that she became ugly, this is a silly thing which you use to read everywhere, but it's wrong; to become ugly for a movie, for an actress like her, who then comes back to her natural beauty, is actually a privilege. Her act of courage, instead, was how she succeeded in building her character's misery: she got on this horse and she did ride on it, without any radar equipment, with a total faith, asking just for one thing: 'I want to act with my own voice, at any cost'. And since I'm an actor myself, I just take a bow in front of a person who tells me: 'nobody will touch my own voice'. Anyway, did you hear her? Did you hear how good she is? She gave a true diction lesson to so many, many Italian actresses ".

And what about Sergio Castellitto himself? This extremely charming and intelligent man has been an acting God for more than twenty years here in Italy; he's an uncanny mix of subdued and brainy acting, total sincerity, powerful emotions in display, instant ability to deeply inhabit any character ... and despite his 50 years of age (he's 20 years older than Penélope), they are absolutely MORE than believable as a mismatched couple of lovers who're overwhelmed and bewildered by a passion which they can't explain, not even to themselves. Like I said above, they share a burning-hot chemistry, which is not only a sexual one but a sentimental one as well.

Moreover, I honestly think that I had never seen in ages such a faithful literary screen adaptation: the novel blends into the movie and vice versa. The one takes new life and new breath from the other.

The opening sequence in the rain, shot from a great height (I'd say that's the same technique of the opening scene in Vanilla Sky), is stunning ... and from there on, the movie flows easily, always vividly and painfully alive, with no lazy moment, at no slow pace, even though it mainly relies upon a subtle psychological analysis of the characters, with those glances, those conversations, those all-important small gestures, those confrontations, those deep feelings in display ...

I hope that this movie will be adequately distributed in the U.S. also. All those involved in it truly deserve to get a wide recognition for their excellent work.

Is this the best that Italian cinema can offer nowadays?

[rainking_es · 6/10 · 4 July 2006]

A doctor whose daughter is been operated as a matter of life or death begins to remember an old love affair that ended tragically. I'm sure that the feminist ones won't be very happy about the way this doctor met his lover (Penélope Cruz): he just rapes her. Is it possible to begin a relationship that way? Well, ask Mr. Castellito.

"Non te muovere" is a big flash-back that it would look more like a melodramatic serial if it wasn't for the fact that Castellito filmed it in an elegant way and with a steady hand. The truth is that this is the first decent movie that Penélope Cruz took part in since she (who knows why) became a Hollywood star. I've never liked her, but he does a good job in this movie (maybe she's a little bit vulgar, but that's something usual about her). Castellito plays the main role and directs the movie, and he proves he's a nice actor.

So, if this is the best that Italian cinema can offer, then their situation is quite the same than here in Spain.

*My rate: 6/10

Powerful Drama – Penélope Cruz Deserved a Nomination to the Oscar

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 29 September 2005]

While waiting for the brain surgery of his daughter Angela, victim of a motorcycle accident, the surgeon Timoteo (Sergio Castellitto) recalls his torrid affair with and passion for Italia (Penélope Cruz), a simple woman from slums in the periphery of the big city where he lives.

When I bought the DVD "Non ti Muovere", I was expecting to see an above average dramatic romance. I felt attracted by name of Penélope Cruz in the credits and the good references in IMDb, but my best expectations were superseded. "Non ti Muovere" is a very intense low budget movie, a precious gem to be discovered by movie lovers, with a touching and sad love story that recalled me Fellini's "Le Notti di Cabiria": There are two points very similar in these films: the character of the lonely and simple Italia, who works cleaning hotels, and recalled me the prostitute Cabiria; and the very poor isolated location in the slums where both characters (Italia and Cabiria) live. "Non ti Muovere" is more erotic, but both stories are centered in the humble female lead character. Penélope Cruz is awesome, with a stunning and heartbreaking performance of an abused woman with no possessions. She really deserved a nomination to the Oscar for such a wonderful acting. I do not follow the work of the practically unknown (to me) Sergio Castellitto, but his direction and performance in this film are outstanding. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Não se Mova" ("Do not Move")

Cruz finally given a role to shine in

[rosscinema · 6/10 · 2 May 2005]

Like Charlize Theron in "Monster" and Nicole Kidman in "The Hours" actress Penelope Cruz side steps her natural beauty and keeps her earthy charm to a minimum in order to give a very strong and an equally complex performance. It's about time that someone finally gave her a role to sink her teeth in and hopefully this will mean that she'll think twice about those big paychecks in mediocre Hollywood junk and instead look at working more in films in Europe. Story here is about a surgeon named Timoteo (Sergio Castellitto) who finds his daughter Angela (Elena Perino) fighting for her life with a head injury after a motorcycle accident and while he waits for her diagnosis he remembers the affair he had with another woman.

*****SPOILER ALERT***** Timoteo was stranded out in the country one day with his car broke down when he meets a poor woman named Italia (Cruz) who allows him to come over to her hovel to use the phone but he's a little drunk and ends up raping her. He returns days later to try and apologize and much to his surprise she's receptive to him and eventually they embark on a torrid affair that could spell the end of his marriage. Italia is Albanian and has a dark past and she makes ends meet by working as a hotel maid and while their relationship starts out roughly it ends with them being deeply in love with each other.

This is directed by actor Sergio Castellitto (Timoteo in the film) and the script comes from the novel by Margaret Mazzantini who happens to be Castellitto's wife. I'm not one of those who thought this was a great film because without the performance by Cruz this would come across as pretty tedious and at 2 hours and 10 minutes this was an effort that definitely needed some editing. Did we really need to see the scene where Timoteo's daughter starts crying about not practicing judo anymore? Cruz is a big international star and after shining pretty well in her early efforts in Spain it took this long before she was able to tackle a solid role again after appearing in mostly disappointing American films. With her bony knees and badly dyed hair Cruz gives the screen a character that's both pathetic and fascinating to watch and she keeps viewers interested by letting out small bits of information about herself through the duration of the films length. I'm not sure audiences (American or European) have her seen Cruz in this light before and she does it believably by never allowing her character to go over the top with how poor she is or how desperate she may be. Cruz deserves to work in better films and I do hope that other directors take notice with her solid performance but lets face it, she's probably going to have to start working more in Europe to find them.

Absolutely Fabulous

[CrissyZ · 10/10 · 24 January 2005]

By far the best movie I've seen in a long time. It gave me the definite urge to scream at everybody in the movie theater to leave so I can be all alone and feel this movie at the intensity it deserves. A gripping story, played with passion by Penelope Cruz. If you've ever been in love you must see this movie. I fell in love with it.

The story is entirely simple: a man falls in love with an Albanian girl, ugly, entirely the opposite of his beautiful middle class perfect wife. The love story unfolds in a very realistic manner, with close ups of earth-moving love making; blood, sweat and tears included.

The perspective is rough, but extremely sensual. There are signs and lines in this movie that you will have flashbacks on for quite a while.

"Unfaithful" As Done Italian Intellectual Style

[noralee · 6/10 · 27 March 2005]

"Don't Move (Non ti muovere)" is a European intellectual take on "Unfaithful" with issues of abuse, class, religion and regionalism replacing the Hollywood thriller aspect of the results of infidelity within an upper middle class marriage.

The characters start out from the get go freighted with way too much symbolism before they finally just become moving and well-acted participants in a sad affair.

Penelope Cruz, as the ragtag object of the obsession of the character portrayed by magnetic star/co-writer and director Sergio Castellitto, is actually named "Italia," is an Albanian immigrant, and lives in a condemned house amidst the ruins of a thwarted and overly ambitious luxury housing project, which somehow towards the end of the movie seems to be located in the same town as the successful surgeon who lives in a gorgeous seaside villa with his beautiful, loving, highly educated and not oblivious wife.

The two meet a la Catherine Breillat's sexually brutal films, but the trajectory of their lives becomes more conventional and tragic, as the power shifts between them. It is obvious from the beginning that Cruz (who doesn't sounds squeaky speaking in Italian as she does in Engllish) is a poster child for low self-esteem due to childhood abuse, while the doctor, with his own father issues, clearly feels more at east slumming with her than with his own wealthy doctor-as-god friends and their own failing marriages.

I suppose it's to the credit of the script that there isn't anything obviously annoying about the wife, except perhaps that she appears to be Northern Italian, particularly once she agrees to bear a child, whose fate will instigate the doctor's guilty flashbacks, even as a plot point recalls the silly Chris Columbus comedy "Nine Months." The parent/child relationship is well portrayed, from the warmth and sympathy to the realistic tension.

The pop music songs are lovely, though without subtitles the significance of all but the Leonard Cohen track remain mysterious.

One of the best movies ever made

[marina_ishchenko · 10/10 · 15 April 2005]

I loved the film, its 'fellinesque' atmosphere and characters. It is lyrical, dramatic, realistic and poetic... It represents a mixture of real and surreal elements, of personal and social issues. Castellitto topped his performance in the "L'uomo delle stelle". His talent as an actor and a director shines through this film. Unbelievable performance also by Cruz, who picked up on the new wave of Hollywood actresses playing unattractive women (Kidman, Theron). I was pleasantly surprised by it! What a break from Hollywood! No doubt this film deserves all the prizes there are to win. Overall, it is a classic which I will watch and re-watch again and again - there is so much more than one can see at the first viewing. Thank you, Sergio!

provocative, interesting, moving

[nattylap2 · 7/10 · 28 March 2005]

The film is almost surreal. It is difficult to imagine a genuine romance arising out of a rape scene. But the film hints - leaving the viewer to decide for one's self - that Italia's abusive childhood made her desperate for love - any love. Similarly, Tino's hate for his father may have been a factor in his becoming the dissolute adult he is.

It is significant that Tino's wife, with whom he has fallen out of love, is an attractive, affectionate, professionally successful woman. Italia, his mistress is plain looking and older than her years.

We have to suspect that wife suspects. Yet Tino's frequent, prolonged and unexplained absences are simply glossed over. This sort of simplifies things, but it is rather difficult for the viewer to accept.

a vulgar, unpleasant, boring, and dishonest piece of work.

[skyweimar · 3/10 · 17 April 2004]

note: contains spoilers.

this is a shallow, heavy, dull, and pretentious soap opera calculated to make spiritually empty, corrupt, and lazy cinema viewers feel they have been morally transformed by "high art." it is one of the most dishonest films i've seen in quite a while. it is also -- assuming one is not part of the target audience-- astonishingly boring to watch.

the drama-- such as it is-- is on the level of the cheapest tv serial. a girl is injured in a motorcycle accident and her father-- a surgeon-- stands outside the operating room waiting for God (and other doctors) to decide her fate.

as he does, he remembers a sordid love affair he had fifteen years ago-- precisely at the time his daughter was conceived.

the love story is with a girl who is presented as a cheap tramp. she appears to be a prostitute, and the surgeon (who is presented as living a passionless life) follows her home and rapes her. inexplicably, she falls in love with him, and we find out that, far from being a prostitute, actually she's an angelic immigrant who cleans up hotel rooms (i.e. other people's messy lives; i.e. she's a saint).

on the other hand, when she is not presented as a docile madonna who likes being raped, she does scream a lot, which while not interesting in terms of character development, i suppose was calculated to address the surgeon's (and audience's) sense of guilt, which ultimately is the main theme of the film, even though it is dramatized in the most infantile manner imaginble.

much of the film's running time is spent watching some astonishingly unpleasant sex scenes, visually favoring the physically unattractive male lead (who also happens to be the director). the directorial/narrative strategy of these scenes is quite ambiguous. we are also treated to a lengthy shot of the star/director urinating on a potted plant.

i think this was one of the longest shots in the entire film, and remain confused as to the dramatic intent except to think it was perhaps it meant to illustrate the contempt for which the protaganist views the natural world (he p****s on flowers the way he deflowers his victim herself) in any case yuck! it also must have wasted the skills of a large team of physical effects technicians.

in any case, it's another example of the dishonesty of a film which wants to be taken as a character study but in fact is esssentially an exploitation drama with an antonioni delusion. the characters, incidently are paper thin, though penelope cruz does an admirable job presenting the surface characteristics of this updated "gelsomina/virgin/waif" stererotype. and claudia gerini (as the rapist's wife) deserves serious praise for making the most of a criminally underwritten role. sergio castellitto-- normally a very watchable actor-- does remarkably little with his role here as the surgeon/rapist. it's as though the strain of exhibiting his sexual energies and urinary prowess had left him bereft of his usual acting skill and common sense.

but back to the extended flashback story. our angelic waif who falls in love with her surgeon/rapist now is pregnant with the surgeon's child--and does what victims are supposed to do in cheap melodramas like this: the poor girl has an unsafe abortion and develops peritonitis. the surgeon tries to save her (his medical heroics are utterly ridiculous but are intended-- i guess--to display his love for the girl). despite all the bathos, the girl dies.

however, just so the hero (and audience) can walk away with a clean conscience, in the parallel story, the hero's daughter survives. and so, like magic, you have a happy ending. morally despicable, yes. like a cheaply bought absolution for a medieval murder, it wreaks of a fundamental decadence of the soul.

i realize this story sounds like a long forgotten 19th century opera or perhaps a Bombay Musical, but this is actually the story of a 21st century movie! and this phony "art film" derives all of its supposed drama from prolonged and ugly sex scenes and from prolonged and ugly scenes of two young girls on their death beds.

this is the stuff of a fifties ross hunter B-movie weepie, but it is presented with with the somemnity of antonioni. (the filmmakers are seriously deluded about their intellectual qualifications). worse is the utter moral corruption of the point of view, in which the audience is encouraged to identify with the "hero's" state of suspense about his own daughter's fate, which is metaphorically presented as a kind of judgment about his own soul.

this is primitive absolution fantasy reasoning. the drama of the story never actually forces the surgeon to transform-- or confront himself. everything happens to him, so his pure narcissicm (and the audience's) is never disturbed. his daughter survives so he can put away the bad memory of his crime, and go on and do whatever he wants. (maybe next time he'll rape his own daughter), but surely he'll be absolved for that too).

to underline the facile and puerile point of view, the writers even give the two women signifying names: the daughter is angela -- a kind of beatific (because in coma) metaphoric replacement for his lover, whose name is Italia, which has obvious and infantile meaning for this perfect virgin/whore, who perfectly serves the purpose of her dishonest, violent, and ugly macho rapist. incidently-- and astonishingly-- a fair number of italian males seem to be able to relate to this character. the relative success of this film in italy speaks volumes about the moral, spiritual and creative condition of italian society.

i won't waste time describing the final shot of the film, which presents a grotesque symbol of the hero's casting off the shadows of the past, but suffice to say it is as cheap and vulgar and ending as one could imagine. the crass pop song that accompanies it seems to hit exactly the right note so to speak. that is to say: water finds it's own level.

in short: truly a wretched film: dishonest, ambtious, pretentious, pseudo-intellectual. i suppose if you're a lapsed catholic with vague leftist leanings and no real intellectutal or moral spine--and suffering a life long existential crisis-- it might appeal.

in the meantime, check out the films of paolo virzi-- a young italian director whose films are fun to watch and yet honest and penetrating. a true humanist in an age where solemnity too often passes for seriousness. i like "caterina goes to the city" and "my name is tanino," films which attempt to reclaim the old traditions of italian films like the comedies of monicelli, germi, and dino risi. italian film used to be fabulous, which makes travesties like "non ti muovere" all the more to be denounced.

A very compelling movie

[john-575 · 31 October 2004]

In Australia we are fortunate to have 3 or 4 festivals each year showcasing the latest films from France, Germany, Greece and Italy. "Don't look Now" is screening as part of the Italian one

Sergio Castellitto is quite well known here, perhaps mainly for his lead role in "Mostly Martha" where he shone. He brings a great presence to the screen although his character here is darker than the outgoing Italian chef in Martha.

"Don't Look Now" is a riveting story of a surgeon sitting in the waiting room of a hospital where he works with his 15 yo daughter and only child seriously injured fighting for her life in the operating room. Whilst waiting he recounts the crucial moments in his life and mainly his sordid and violent (his) relationship with Cruz, a derelict young woman and the interplay and very much parallel life with his wife, a successful journalist played by Claudia Gerini who looks very much like an Italian Diane Lane.. beautiful hair, classical looks.

The contrast between his married homelife and Cruz situation is black and white. His house overlooks a beautiful beach, Cruz's is in a dusty hellhole in the middle of a construction site.

This film makes perfect use of flashbacks something I normally detest particularly ones that move in reverse order like Momento or the French Film "Irreversible"

The rape scene between Cruz and Castellitto is much briefer than that in "Irreversible" but just as uncomfortable to watch.

I couldn't quite work out the attraction between Cruz's and Castellitto's characters as there was no gentleness in his approach at first (it was rape) but somehow he falls in love with her.

But there is a lot to enjoy here and a lot to think about afterwards. It is the sort of movie that you should see once and could see a number of times to get all the angles.

For Cruz this could perhaps be compared to Halle Berry's performance in Monsters Ball or Charlene Theron's in Monster. But unlike these other two films, Cruz's character is only one of the 3 or 4 varied relationships Castellitto's character has in the film. These relationships and how they interplay is why it is such an interesting movie.

Good direction with a less then perfect script

[raymond-15 · 7/10 · 25 October 2006]

Sergio Castellito directed and played the leading role as Timoteo, a surgeon of repute in a big Italian hospital . Timiteo had a beautiful wife, a well-paid job and an exceptional home by the sea, but unfortunately the man's brains were between his legs. How else could he risk everything for a waif he raped in a rundown part of the town? For me the character was beyond belief. And as for Italia the victim (Penelepe Cruz), poor she might be but the make-up artists really did make a mess of her face when attempting to give her a pitiful emaciated expression. Even a poverty stricken person can find a plastic comb to comb her hair.

Although I am critical of the script, the acting was great. Timoteo with his hidden secret of irresistible attraction towards Italia tried to cover up his back street sexual conquests with lies about urgent work at the hospital. His wife Elsa (Claudia Gerini) seemed aware that something was going on. Her expressive eyes said a lot as she questioned her husband about the hospital, the conference and the quality of his bedroom at the venue.

The blossoming of love between Timoteo and his lover was too much for me to accept. Italia with a new wardrobe and complete makeover became a most beautiful woman. There was a suggestion of "Pygmalion" here.

I object to these urinary scenes which seem to have crept into films in the last decade. Are they used to add a touch of realism or what? In one scene Timoteo opens his fly and sprays the balcony window boxes. In another scene Elsa goes to the bathroom leaving the door open and we see her seated and then drying herself with a toilet tissue. Let's have some privacy please! Editing room please note! On the credit side there is some excellent photography. The shot from above the street where the accident occurred and the many scenes of incessant rain were great. As for the woman seated on a chair in the rain and observed by Timoteo from his window, this really puzzled me. May be it was a figment of Timoteo's imagination.

Cheating on partners is by no means a new theme in films. One tends therefore to make comparisons. In my opinion I preferred "Unfaithful" in which a housewife adds excitement to her life with secretive visits to a handsome bookseller. "Unfaithful" was a better script in my opinion.

A beautiful movie

[nefeli-1 · 10/10 · 29 October 2005]

It has been a couple of days since i first watched the movie, and believe me or not, i saw it twice. The first time I was alone and its effect was so strong that I would have Italia (Penelope) in my mind all the time.

Yes, they made her ugly, but it needs more than being ugly and kitsch so as to be convincing in a role. And she did it, she did it in a natural way that lead the movie unfold like Real Life. Great performance that i will keep in my mind for a long time...

The script, the cast ,as swell as the inventive direction, the lighting and the colors were brilliant. It made possible for the viewer to experience great emotions of the movie's heroes and to be placed right in the heart of a really shocking story. It wasn't a happy movie, neither was it a movie that tried to moralize in the frame of a cynic world. It was a breathtaking, tragic story, but at the same time it gave away an optimistic vision. This combination conduced to a truly beautiful story. The movie was in total a unity of well connected elements, elements for making the movie unforgettable in my mind! Thanks to Sergio and Penelope!

A bit sluggish but Penélope is just amazing (rental)

[leplatypus · 7/10 · 13 February 2016]

It's great to be back to my rental run. Now it's the turn of my favorite Spanish actress Penélope but as i have watched a lot of her movies, this would be quick. I never understand European cinema because we never heard about it in France, except the blockbuster ones. So it's only because i have thoroughly checked her filmography that I pick this one. It's about a cheating husband and it's not the only movie that Penélope did in that field. The movie illustrates clearly why it happens : just because the cheater (whose i saw younger in « Le Grand Bleu ») has better life with his new lover than with his wife, who is a look alike of Sienna Miller. For sure, after it's the usual dilemma as this cheater fails to choose and act morally. It's hard to understand why he falls for Pénelope as she has really nothing for her : no happy past, no future, almost jobless and living in a ruin. Anyway, it's only because she is that lost soul with a heart and smile of a princess that Pénelope is really exceptional ! So the movie is sometimes a bit long, needlessly too erotic but at the end, it has a real story, moving moments, it made us alert with its Italian background and it's finally an excellent recommendation and her best Italian movie!

Penelope Cruz better than Hilary Swank

[andy-887 · 10/10 · 26 February 2005]

Cruz is never less than fascinating as the witless, kind, determined Italia. As in Monster (Charlize Theron), part of the fun comes from watching a celebrity actress become almost unrecognisable. With her badly-applied mascara, trailer-trash blonde highlights, sluttish mini skirts and thrift-shop synthetic tops, with her stiff, bandy-legged high-heel waddle and her rag doll floppiness when passion threatens, she is an entirely believable denizen of the urban and social borderlands. The film is a triumph, and it would have been interesting to see if Penelope Cruz would have beaten the other Oscar nominess had the film been release in the USA last year.

Cruz is the savior

[stensson · 6/10 · 28 November 2004]

No. This Sergio Castellitto movie is rather inmature and only average as melodrama. But Penelope Cruz saves it, being white trash in rags but in Italian fashion.

Her name is Italia by the way. That's only one of the symbolism which are just too obvious here. So is her red shoe, which is preserved by her lover, so is her equal relation to her dog...the only equal relation she has and so on...

This doesn't concern you at all and Sergio Castellitto as the lover goes through the movie with only 3/4 look in his face. That's too little if you want to be regarded as an actor. And the rape scenes? Not much to talk about. They are nothing, compared to "Irreversible". Don't be afraid to watch this, unless you dislike bad scripts.

It's about our own personal catharsis.

[anna-217 · 10/10 · 2 March 2005]

Well, I don't. I can't. I can hardly breathe. And I'm not the only one in the small screening room where we are invited for a preview of Sergio Castellitto's movie, DON'T MOVE, some weeks before its official premiere in London.

I missed the beginning. But even as I was finding my seat in the darkness, I could feel from the vibe in the room that something was actually happening on the screen: One could feel the hot stifling air of a summer afternoon; the sheltering shadows of midday in the Italian south; the smell of dust in the streets; the smell of poverty. I know the out-of-the-way alleys and secret passages that hide Italia amidst the construction sites of a cancerous urban development; where I come from, these are not poetic metaphors. A young girl is urgently admitted to the Hospital where her father, Timoteo (Sergio Castellitto), works as a doctor. As he is helplessly waiting for the surgery to save his daughter's life, Timoteo begins his confession: a painful account of his early years, of his suffocating relationship with his wife, Elsa (Claudia Gerini), of his acquaintance with a destitute Albanian émigré, Italia (Penelope Cruz), and of their tragic love-affair which started with her rape by Timoteo and ended with her death. I have met people like Timoteo: academic over-achievers who escaped poverty, successful professionals seeking comfort and oblivion in a new house by the beach, in a piece of jewellery or in a bottle of wine. The boundaries between social classes are nowhere less distinct than in southern Europe. Stepping out of your class, for the south is not the exception but the un-written rule that creates a colourful social landscape, an everyday Almodovarian comedy. The same imperative often brings forth forces of tragedy, like those that crashed Italia's heart and body. But as the story was unfolding on the screen, I was starting to realise that this sense of familiarity was due not only to the characters and their misgivings, but also due to the artistic filter through which they were reaching my eyes. There is an almost painterly quality in this film. Materials are tangible, shimmering through the counterpoint of light and darkness, contradicting each other: soft linen against coarse hair, a black suit against a white dress, the daughter's shaved hair on the linoleum of the hospital floor; an agitated universe of colour and texture; just like a Caravaggio painting. And as beautiful in its harshness.

There is definitely no beauty in rape. Or death. But they are both happening every day, right this moment, in nature, in civilized society, perhaps next door. And there is fear and awe whenever we encounter these forces. They are real as much as we are. Invisible forces that play us, with us, against us, in a cruel, mesmerizing puppetry. Forces within people, real people, just like us. The rape-scene in DON'T MOVE has been re-viewed unfavourably by some critics. Perhaps because it is shot with a clinical detachment that renders the account of a violent crime even more violent. The camera is gradually moving away as if closing its eyes from what is happening to Italia. As if God is absent from the scene. Surely, it could have been done in a different way. But would that have made a rape-scene equivalent to the self-evident message that "rape is a crime"? Do we even need a movie to tell us that? Or are we being hypocritical in our effort to shout to the world how politically correct we are? Moralizing from the safe pedestal of normality and sanity does not offer society protection from the dark forces within human nature. Putting these forces under the psychological microscope of an artistic medium gives us an opportunity to feel their power, reflect on the complicated nature of crimes and misfortunes and re-enact the agonizing struggle of their protagonists. A poetic re-enactment of tragic events, whether in theatre or in cinema, is still serving an almost therapeutic purpose. To quote a reliable authority on the subject, this is done by depicting "…incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions…" (Aristotle, Poetics) DON'T MOVE is more of a vehicle for catharsis than middle-class escapism through vice; who ever saw this movie as an erotic male hallucination had better seek professional help or do some research on the subject. Italia is not exactly standard male-fantasy material. She is too real for that. Repulsively real. In this light, the issue of the characters' and the story's credibility requires a slightly different approach: Timoteo is more complex a character than a rich, well-educated philanderer desperately trying to have it both ways; as Italia is a lot more than a provocative, vulgar, unrefined girl who happened to be raped; Timoteo's wife, Elsa, has a private life of her own, safety exits and frustrations of her own; they all make choices and they all have to suffer through them. The story is fictional. The characters, however, very soon acquire a life of their own. They allow us to see their imperfections, their flaws and their crimes. Just like an assortment of ordinary people posing for Caravaggio in a dark, humid basement.

Murky sexual politics but moving nonetheless

[paulnewman2001 · 6/10 · 11 October 2005]

Successful surgeon Timoteo (Sergio Castellitti) is waiting anxiously as colleagues operate to save the life of his teenage daughter but finds himself possessed by the past as he relives an abusive yet passionate affair from the time of her birth.

When his car breaks down, the younger Timoteo is helped by poor migrant worker Italia (Penélope Cruz) and repays her by drunkenly raping her. Returning the following day to beg forgiveness, he is slowly drawn into a relationship with her as an escape from his pristine but childless, unsatisfying marriage.

The sexual politics of the film may be pretty murky and politically incorrect, but Castellitti and Cruz give such committed performances that their on-screen relationship is never less than compelling and credible.

Indeed, Cruz is so accomplished in her role that it makes her subsequent rise in the Hollywood firmament all the more disappointing, considering the shallow star vehicles in which she's since found herself (Gothika, Vanilla Sky, Sahara).

Best Film I've seen at the AFM

[Californiabluej · 10/10 · 27 February 2004]

I can only say that this is the best film I saw at the American Film Market.

Beautiful and memorable performance by Penelope Cruz. The sexual energy of the film is raw, intense. Penelope will get an Oscar for this. One will be carried away by the cinematography, and symbolism. This is a film along the lines of Doctor Zhivago that will play in your romantic memories for years to come.

No excuses or analysis can explain true love and passion It just simply exists when we are lucky enough to find it. This film reminds us of that fact.

not THAT great

[cocoshell · 6/10 · 24 March 2005]

First, I have not read the bestselling book by Margaret Mazzantilo on which the movie is based. As of what I heard by people who read it and saw the film, book beats the movie by far. The story is about an adulterous surgeon unsatisfied with his marriage and triteness of his upper class life that encounters love in a strange form of a simple, unattractive woman named Italia. What starts as a very weird form of purely sexual, let's call it, relationship ( including rape ) turns into something more and ends up as true, tragic love. It's also a story of guilt, redemption, and finding ones' place in life. The better side of this movie is definitely the acting. Penelope Cruz gives her best performance since her legendary collaborations with Pedro Almodovar. Too often stuck in a Hollywood trash, I was afraid Cruz lost her touch, but with Non Ti Muovere she's back with a vengeance. The roles of women on the margin of society suit her perfectly and again she reminds us that she's not just a pretty girl trying to make it big in America with her looks. The director and lead role Sergio Catellito ( Mazzantilo's husband in real life ) is excellent as well, but a notch below Cruz who steals the spotlight with her brilliant acting. Well known Italian actress Claudia Gerini in a role of surgeon Timoteo's difficult wife does the best with her limited on-screen time. My problem with Non Ti muovere is a complete lack of any sort of identification with the characters. All of them live their unfulfilled lives immersed in adultery, shopping sprees and luxurious parties but without finding the happiness they all long for. Sure, we see similar people every day on the street but they just don't have any internal qualities that we should commiserate for and therefore enter and leave our lives as pure strangers. The only character with a palpable soul is Italia but then again we don't get to know her as well as we should. Her troubled life and past is mentioned at few places but doesn't give any wider insight into her miserable existence. Castellito manages not to pass the feeling of contempt for doctor Timoteo to the audience but doesn't do much more than that either. His feelings are buried deep inside for the most of the movie and so even when he tries to be emotional it just doesn't leave an impression of being real. I have to be honest and admit that at times I felt I should've sympathized with one of the characters I couldn't go for more than neutrality. In a film like this one the audience has to feel the power of emotion to become a part of the movie and in that segment Castellito fails gravely, at least IMHO. However, I cannot do else but recommend it...if for nothing else then for Penelope Cruz. Her performance intrigued me so much that I'm on my way to a bookstore and this time I'm looking for a real, not tamed emotions.

Disturbing, overrated and unrealistic drama

[troskaya · 2/10 · 13 January 2007]

I watch mainly French and Italian films from the 40s-80s, and I think it is bizarre to compare this film with Fellini or other art films. I found it more on the level of L'Ultimo Bacio -- actually a hardcore version of that film, without the fun and cuteness, and with weaker female characters.

Non Ti Muovere centers around a man who rapes a woman (because he drank a bit too much?) and then, it seems, because of her predisposition to masochism after having been raped by her father as a young teenager, he is able to begin a sexual relationship with her. Meanwhile, he is married to a woman who is not only beautiful, but quite caring towards him.

I've read some of the reviews and didn't see mention of the quite telling scene in which Timo kicks his mother-in-law's little dog. In a truly sadistic manner, he beckons the dog, offering it food, and then gives it a powerful, violent kick. In another scene he urinates on his wife's balcony plants. Both are actions of a disturbed person whose moral and emotional growth is severely stunted. His wife and her parents are stunned by Timo kicking the dog, yet a little later they are all overjoyed that he is going to become a father.

Violence against animals has been linked in studies to child abuse. It would be fitting if this character had been abusing his daughter. Although it seems the premise of the film and book is that this man underwent some sort of change because he began to feel emotion for the woman he had raped and then he watched her die, the scene of his daughter crying after a judo match seems to show that he hadn't changed that much in fifteen years.

He forced his daughter to take judo, even though she hated it and wasn't suited for it. She wanted synchronized swimming, but he said she was clumsy and awkward; he was putting her down, and maybe also putting her in danger. Instead of the motorbike accident it might have made more sense to have the daughter almost die from a judo accident. In the match, she stares at her parents pleadingly instead of concentrating on her opponent. It was only after she cried so hysterically that it seemed she might have a nervous breakdown that he finally relented.

I believe it is a fault of this movie that this man is glorified. He "falls in love" with this woman that he has brutally raped, but what kind of love is that? It's rather that he becomes addicted to the sex with her and to her willingness to let him dominate her. This is romanticized, as in a cheap romance novel.

The violence and dominance/submission in the relationship continues to the end -- there is a scene towards the end in which Timo is holding Italia's mouth shut on the escalator of the metro. If I had witnessed that in person, I would definitely have alerted the police.

The author of the book, who is married to the actor/director is probably the source of most of my criticism. A special feature with her comments did nothing to shed light on the story, just all praise for her husband's film, mainly in a lot of poetic language to do with the film's imagery. Any desire to read the book disappeared after that, although I wonder if perhaps some of the content is autobiographical stuff she doesn't quite understand and is trying to work out.

To sum up, this was an unrealistic, overly dramatic soap opera. It makes some attempts at character development, but goes seriously astray, becoming quite ludicrous, especially when Timo tries to save Italia's life by barging into a hospital and taking over the staff as though he is some sort of super-doctor. Of course, this happens while his wife is still in another hospital after giving birth.

I didn't find any of the qualities of good Italian cinema in this film; the symbolism is heavy and awkward and the pretty cinematography is wasted. I thought the red shoe at the end was especially silly, and I couldn't help laughing ... although maybe that was just the relief that the film was over.