The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Features  |  Reviews
Best2012Vote-1000x50

The Unknown Woman

Follows a manipulative formula that’s all too well known
By PETER KEOUGH  |  September 17, 2008
2.5 2.5 Stars
Unknown-Woman-inside.jpg

What do we know about Irena (Ksenia Rappoport), the Unknown Woman in Giuseppe Tornatore’s La sconosciuta? That she’s a Ukrainian emigrée who arrives in a Northern Italian city on an unknown mission. That she takes an apartment across the square from a married pair of rich jewelers (Claudia Gerini and Pierfrancesco Favino) and their little daughter (Clara Dossena) and bribes the concierge of their building to get a position as their housekeeper. That she likes strawberries and, most important, has a bad case of the flashbacks: it seems every time Irena encounters a stressful situation, whether it’s being searched by security at the supermarket or taking a driving lesson, she lapses into a blurry montage of what look like outtakes from Pasolini’s Salò. For Irena is a woman with a past — but does she have a future? Tornatore leaves behind the G-rated sentiment of Cinema Paradiso in this exploitative 2006 thriller, which, though elevated by an Ennio Morricone score, follows a manipulative formula that’s all too well known. Italian | 118 minutes | Kendall Square
Related: Review: Inglourious Basterds, 2009: The year in movies, Review: Precious, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Ennio Morricone, Giuseppe Tornatore, Pierfrancesco Favino
| More

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 02/14 ]   The Addams Family  @ Shubert Theatre
[ 02/14 ]   "Aphrodite and the Gods of Love"  @ Museum of Fine Arts
[ 02/14 ]   "Processes and Dreams"  @ Panopticon Gallery
ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: THE OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2012: DOCUMENTARY  |  February 10, 2012
    The films in this program contain some of the most powerful images to be seen on the screen this year.
  •   REVIEW: JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND  |  February 07, 2012
    I liked the tiny elephants and the Rock bouncing berries off his pecs, but Brad Peyton's sequel is as bad as the 2008 original.
  •   REVIEW: CHRONICLE  |  February 02, 2012
    Poor Andrew (Dane DeHaan) has more problems than any movie teenager deserves.
  •   REVIEW: ONE FOR THE MONEY  |  January 31, 2012
    TV director Julie Anne Robinson's insipid adaptation of this first volume in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series has more in common with Young Adult than with the average gumshoe yarn.
  •   REVIEW: BIG MIRACLE  |  January 31, 2012
    Taking a tip from the oil industry, Hollywood has started exploiting Alaska. Following in the tracks of The Grey is Ken Kwapis's take on a true story from 1988 about an effort to save gray whales trapped in the Arctic ice. Surprisingly, the film offers genuine complexity.

 See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed