Facing Windows (Finestra di Fronte, La) (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Featurette-Making Of-Unsubtitled Theatrical Trailer Gallery-Photo Filmographies-Cast & Crew Trailer-Remember Me, Like Two Crocodiles, Angela, The Last Kiss
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	100:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Ferzan Ozpetek
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Giovanna Mezzogiorno Massimo Girotti Raoul Bova Filippo Nigro Serra Yilmaz Maria Grazia Bon Massimo Poggio Ivan Bacchi
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	Andrea Guerra Andrea Guerra

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Those of us who enjoy the occasional or even frequent foray into the world of foreign cinema will know already that many rewards await such an enterprise. Much as I admire Hollywood, it does seem to be continuing its downward spiral towards becoming little more than a production line for super-mega-blockbusters generated ad nauseam for that less than completely sophisticated demographic: teenage males (one of which I still count myself as - justification for my generalising criticism). Those who are, along with those who think they are cultured are therefore forced to look elsewhere for proof of cinema's status as an art form rather than an expensive, noisy, merchandise-generating annoyance. We seek out the indies premiering at Sundance, Cannes or Toronto, sometimes pushing across geographical boundaries into those alluring realms of French, Italian, Iranian or Taiwanese cinema. In this desperate search for quality storytelling and mise en scene worthy of our grateful adoration however, I would argue we become less discerning in our tastes. So pleased we sometimes are to have found a film seemingly worthy of our appreciation we blind ourselves to its actual quality. It has become all too easy to rubbish a distended, special effects potboiler from Roland Emmerich, so easy in fact that the challenge is sometimes is to defend its merits, however limited. Much harder is daring to criticize the latest offering from the up and coming European auteur, with its delicate camerawork and sparse narrative, regardless of its merit. I mention all this partly out of a desire to generate discussion amongst readers of this site but mostly because the film I sat down to review a couple of days ago falls quite clearly into this category of less than satisfactory foreign language films I have spoken of.

    I should point out that Facing Window (La Finestra di fronte - I believe it is one window, not plural as some have written) itself, a new film from Turkish born director Ferzan Ozpetek is not so much a case in point than a film to which my argument can lend itself. It is a good hearted and occasionally insightful work that succeeds in many respects. It may be that the director's intention in making it was simply that, and no more. However, thoughts from friends and various reviews from newspapers paint it as superb, and this it is not. Giovanna (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) and Filippo (Filippo Nigro) are struggling to keep their marriage alive and matters are seriously complicated when they come across a wayward looking elderly gentleman (Massimo Girotti - in the film's finest performance), who cannot remember anything of his past, or even who he is. Reluctantly, and not without frequent arguments, the couple allow this stranger into their home whilst they attempt to discover his identity, and where he lives. Gradually we learn of this old man's background - he was a pastry chef, and revelations of his past are genuinely quite moving. However, without revealing too much, such revelations do seem like an intentional grab for gravitas by the filmmakers, particularly as they are never dealt with in a satisfying way. His presence and sage advice to Giovanna sees her question the direction of her life. She has long wanted to own her own pastry shop and comes to see her husband, who cannot hold down a job, as holding her back. This frustration draws her to the impossibly good looking Lorenzo (Raoul Bova) who lives in the apartment across from hers, whom she watches silently on many an occasion (hence the title).

    It is easy to praise this film. It looks gorgeous - many slow pans across tables laden with sinfully good pastries and cakes will tempt even the fullest of stomachs. The musical score is reservedly beautiful and the performances are excellent. However as much as I appreciate, from a cineaste's perspective, the self indulgent cinematography, it does eat away time desperately needed to fashion a more compelling narrative. Like a colourful fraying blanket, the story's threads need pulling together in order for us to more fully appreciate the colour and texture of the work. Girotti's character could fill half a dozen wonderful stories yet the filmmaker's unwisely deal with his past only superficially. I longed for greater exploration of his, and the neighbour Lorenzo's character. Too much is left untouched and is resolved too neatly. I don't know what is worse - a film that is bad from the outset, or one that begins with wonderful ideas, and then refuses to see them through to a proper conclusion. The latter is certainly more frustrating and that bests describes this film.

Video

    Not frustrating is the presentation of this film, which is very good, if not fantastic. It is presented at its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with 16x9 enhancement.

    A recent film deserves a good transfer and this one delivers. Sharpness levels are generally excellent, and shadow detail, whilst not perfect, is certainly of a high standard. Some of the indoor scenes, particularly the opening bakery sequence are a little dark, which obscures some detail but this is a relatively minor criticism.

    The transfer is not marred by any significant grain, and noise too is kept to a minimum, and as such compression artefacts are kept at bay throughout, although on occasion they do interfere a little. Aliasing was not a major concern

    Colours are well rendered. As mentioned the palette is rich and varied, and full justice is done to the filmmaker's 'painter's eye'. Skin tones are well done, if a little tending to red.

    Film artefacts are thankfully kept to a minimum.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    We are presented with a single Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 track, with English subtitling available, which kept good pace with the dialogue, was easy to read and comprehend. It also didn't seem to have simplified the language.

    Audio sync is excellent.

    Dialogue was crisp and clear.

    The track did not suffer from any noticeable blemishes or dropouts.

    The surrounds and subwoofer aren't used terribly extensively in this film, although they lend some nice depth to the excellent (if a little repetitive) score.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    The extras package is a little disappointing.

Featurette

    This five minute featurette, presented without 16x9 enhancement, is in Italian only, without subtitles. It is relatively easy to deduce what the cast and crew are talking about from the format of the feature, but it is very superficial.

Theatrical Trailer

    Presented without 16x9 enhancement, this letterboxed trailer runs for 1:50 and is quite effective, if a little melodramatic.

Photo Gallery

    A nice collection of twenty still photos taken during production of the film.

Filmographies

    Five filmographies - four of the major cast, and the director. No biographical information is included.

Trailers

    A collection of four very ordinary trailers, poorly presented. This is certainly not the way to encourage people to seek out your films.

    In spite of the pretty poor extras on our release, it is more than what is available on the Region 1 alternative. Go the local product - it appears to be cheaper, in spite of our strongly performing dollar at the moment.

    A good film that should and could have been much better.

    The video is very good.

    The audio is of a similarly decent standard.

    The extras are disappointing.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall