Ralph's Movie Reviews: THE UNKNOWN WOMAN

Sunday, April 6, 2008

THE UNKNOWN WOMAN

Thriller
In Italian with English subtitles
Original title: La Sconosciuta

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Xenia Rappoport: Irena, an Ukrainian refugee
Alessandro Haber: the apartment building porter
Claudia Gerini: Valeria Adacher, wealthy jeweller
Clara Dossena: her 4-year-old daughter Thea
Pierfrancesco Favino: her father Donato
Piera Degli Esposti: their maid Gina
Michele Favino: Mold, a very nasty fellow

REVIEW
The first five minutes seem like an promotion for some pornographic website and then it’s all forgotten. Problem is, in no way is this an essential part of the story. In fact we’re left to guess what the heck is going on. Never did figure that out.

But that is just the first of many events that take place which don’t make any sense at all. Given that it is a thriller you expect some things to be something other than what they appear. But there is a limit to how many incomprehensible plot devices you can foist on the viewer.

Apart from that as soon as the story gets moving along we are subjected to a series of flashbacks giving us some idea of Irena’s earlier life. But the frequency they appear seems only to reinforce the porno website aspect of the whole thing.

One more thing: it’s too long at almost two hours.

CLASSIFICATION

for disturbing images, explicit portrayals of violence, full frontal nudity and sexual activity.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Given its location it would be impossible for Irena to see the safe from the doorway of the workshop.

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.