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.
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.