His Secret Life

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WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> <B>His Secret Life    </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêê</B></FONT><B> ½  Stars.  Not Rated.</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Reviewed by Shelley Cameron</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="588" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> With a little help from her friends</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="593" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div> Director: Ferzan Ozpetek</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="293" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Antonia, happily married to Massimo, has her life turned upside down when he is killed in a car accident.  At first, she tries to deaden her pain with scotch and pills, but it is finding the unsettling truth about Massimo's secret life that allows her to break free and move on.  She is devastated and alone after his death, because his needs have eclipsed hers during the 10 years of their marriage.  She has no child.  Her medical career has taken a back seat.  Her mother is not a great comfort.  </div> <bR> <div> When Antonia finds a painting inscribed to Massimo, clearly from a lover, she becomes determined to find his secret love.  She follows the leads to an apartment house in the colorful and ancient Ostiense district of Rome.  The inhabitants of the apartment are no less colorful.  She meets resistance but keeps coming back until the truth slowly dawns.  Conventional expectations being what they are, director Ferzan Ozpetek <I>(Steam: The Turkish Bath)</I> cleverly lets us watch Antonia come to realize what seems so obvious: Massimo's lover is Michele, a handsome young buck who lives in the apartment building with this family-like mélange.</div> <bR> <div> The dissection of the lies and secrets continues through the film, suggesting that most of us live by the grace of lies that allow us to not see some of life's harsher realities.  Antonia (Margherita Buy) finds comfort and friendship among these eccentric characters that have been part of Massimo's life for seven years.  For seven years, he spent a lot of time with this surrogate family, laughing, dancing, cooking, and eating with them.  And he has loved Michele (Stefano Accorsi, <I>The Last Kiss</I>), the testosterone driven charmer who lives life in the fast lane on the gay club circuit.  Michele has been bitter about only having stolen moments with Massimo, although it is Antonia who has been deceived.  Michele is a guy who often wants most what he can't have.  He is caring for Ernesto, HIV positive, sick, and whose lover has disappeared.</div> <bR> <div> Michele, at first angry and bitter about the crumbs of Massimo he got, comes to value and even love Antonia, in a way that comes as a surprise to him.  She has been kind and straightforward with the group, summarily delivering IV drugs to Ernesto.  Antonia is a doctor who works with AIDS patients.  The first time she is invited to share a meal, she is met with unfriendliness as they try to give misplaced support to Michele.  They are embarrassed and sorry.  They include Stella and her brother Emir, who fled Istanbul and a painful past, and Mara, a transsexual whose sex change operation has her uneasy about going home after a ten year absence.  The sharp contrast between the cluttered, noisy, cheerful apartment, where a wonderful meal is always being cooked and the tranquil, minimalist, suburban villa outside Rome, that Antonia shared with Massimo, is an effective visual metaphor for the vast differences that seem to separate the people.</div> <bR> <div> The film doesn't delve into Massimo's motives or rationale, but rather, lays bare what is left behind.  Antonia has relinquished pursuit of her own life (medical school, children) to make a life that suited Massimo.  It is not surprising, but very refreshing, that the core of the film is her journey to uncover the secrets of her own life.  Along the way, Michele learns a few things himself: People are a product of the sum of the past, of what has happened to them or failed to happen and what they've chosen to believe.  </div> <bR> <div> As too often occurs, a foreign language film is given a prosaic title for release in the United States, although the Italian title <I>The Ignorant Fairies</I>, referring to the painting that leads Antonia to the apartment house, is so much more interesting.  The well-chosen music underscoring the scenes of operatic tragedy, or the wistful jazz trumpets that fold over the boisterous club scene, add nicely to the story telling.  This is a fine, original, and touching film. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> Shelley Cameron <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >Ó</FONT> 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com"><U><U>Shelley@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>