Come Undone (2010)

Sadly Over-hyped

ridiculous rating

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Cosa voglio di più, English title 'Come Undone', is essentially the story of an affair. It provides little context or psychological examination of its characters, makes no moral judgement and offers little in the way of justification for their actions. The Italian title (translated literally as 'What more do I want') gives more emphasis to the idea of the film literally being about just wanting something more.There doesn't seem to be any particularly deep want in Anna. Her sister might have just had a baby, but she doesn't really seem to be ready to have one with husband/boyfriend, Alessio. The relationship between them is easy-going and stable, even if there is no real passion there. He's a handyman, watches the pennies carefully; she works in administration for an insurance company. If their love life is unexciting, there's no conflict there either, certainly nothing that suggests that she's ready for an affair.There's no doubt however that she is interested in Domenico/Mimmo, a cater who turns up for one of their work functions. Anna suggests coffee, they finally manage a meeting, and eventually end up at a motel for sex. It soon becomes a regular affair, but finding the time to be together is increasingly difficult. Mimmo has a wife and two children and has to steal an hour or two while he is supposed to be at the pool swimming. Anna, plays the old working late at the office line. There's only so long before suspicions are aroused in their partners, but Anna is impatient.All Cosa voglio di più seems to be saying is that we all need a little bit of excitement outside the mundane practicalities of life. For all the passions that are raised, it's curiously detached, lacking the more gentle charm of a similar theme in Soldini's Bread and Tulips. For most films it would be the passionate affair and the exploration of deep emotional needs that would be the focus of the story, but Soldini intentionally seems to give more attention to the little banalities that have to be taken into consideration, taking time over Anna looking through brands of facewipes while she takes a call from Mimmo, or Mimmo mentally balancing the cost of paying for a motel room against the urgent needs of his children. It's refreshingly more honest about the realities of affairs, but that perhaps doesn't make for the most exciting drama.

Once the Italians gave up on realism in film they were stuck with movies by such dullards as Antonioni, the bored doings of the rich and fashionable Italians. This movie is not about rich and fashionable Italians but it is still boring. Sexual attraction, can you believe it?, causes problems for all involved and the principal characters have to decide how far they will go in self gratification which also involves harming many other people. Here the ending could go any number of ways and the way it finally goes is certainly believable but also banal. I cannot imagine two more boring hours with some very unappealing Milanesi, not one is really attractive, male or female. Perhaps this is the new realism; give me the old!

Anna, a young woman in Milan, is trapped in a loveless marriage to Alessio. As a couple, they function well, but one can see Anna is far from being happy in her present surroundings. One day, at an office party at the small insurance agency where she works, she spots a handsome waiter, Domenico, who is the opposite of what Alessio is not. Anna, for better, or worse, makes a tactical mistake in asking Domenico to join her for a friendly drink.Almost missing the opportunity to talk to Domenico, they have a brief chat where they agree to get another chance. Anna is stuck in that she does not have anywhere to take Domenico, something that also puts a burden on him. He is married and things at home with his wife Miriam, is not exactly a happy one, complicated by the fact they have two children and money is tight. Domenico, who appears to be new to any extra marital sessions, must use money that is badly needed in his household to buy four hours in a couples motel.Once smitten, Domenico and Anna experience a sexual encounter like they have not had in memory. Anna cannot get enough, and neither does Domenico. The result is a series of trysts where both must lie about the reasons for being late, or absent, to their married partners. Lust consume them. A week-end trip to Tunisia serves as a sobering reminder of what they have been doing and the lies they are now living. While Domenico does not want the affair to end, Anna has a different view. In the end, lust ran its course, only to leave them completely changed.Silvio Soldini continues to amaze us with every new film he decides to give his audience. This new film solidifies him as one of the best directors from Italy. The excellent screenplay was written by Mr. Soldini in collaboration with Diorana Leondeff and Angelo Carbone. It is a story about two people that find in each other the passion that is lacking in their somewhat orderly lives. The way both lovers approach the situation will mark them for life. In a way, this film, although more explicit in its sexual context, kept remind this viewer of David Lean's masterpiece "Brief Encounter" in which two decent human beings discover in the other one a kind of soul mate that destiny denied them in real life.Alba Rohrwacher is not a beauty to compare to anyone, yet, she is more credible and approachable than most of the Italian film goddesses of the past because the viewer can identify with her. Her Anna is a triumph in the restraint she shows, even at the height of her passionate lovemaking with Domenico. Pierfranco Favino also impresses because he is a natural for the screen. Domenico is basically a decent man who is drawn into an extra marital affair with a woman that stirs him like his own wife cannot do. Mr. Favino has the good looks the role requires.Others in the film in supporting roles are Giuseppe Batiston, having been in other Silvio Soldini's films. His Alessio is pure kindness. One feels sorry for what is happening to him. In the end, Anna realizes she has jeopardized her marriage by her own recklessness. Teresa Saponangelo, Fabio Troiano, Tatiana Lepore, and Monica Nappo are seen in supporting roles.The film shows us an unglamorous Milan, captured in vivid detail by Ramiro Civita who has a distinguished career photographing projects all over the map. Giovanni Venosta contributed the musical score. Silvio Soldini brings it all together in a film that adds luster to his career.

It is hard not to feel rather sad after watching this movie, which stands out for the strong realism of both situations and characters. Realism is to be perceived in the difficulty of ordinary people having to live on precarious jobs, people for whom love and even more unfaithfulness seems a luxury, not so easy to afford. The movie reminded me of a French movie I have seen recently, "Partir", where a story of unfaithfulness and betrayal is one between a well-off but disappointed middle-age wife and a former convict. Different settings, different conditions, different endings, but same sadness. And the consciousness that whichever opinion one may have about betrayal, what is certain is that it's a dangerous means of self-destruction, mainly for women, those who lose more and find it difficult to start everything anew. The passionate love encounters between Anna and Domenico are marked by such intensity, preluding to an equally strong final sense of void and anguish. One may judge or not both characters, but some questions arise: why choosing to destroy oneself and one's family so easily? Why and what for do men and women hurt themselves? Probably unsolved questions, part of the mystery of human nature. Good, well focused and believable interpretations are delivered by Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher, supported by a wise direction, which lets the viewer see the bare crudity of some human relations, together with the sometimes incomprehensible nature of human behaviour.