Review of Don't Move (2004) by Budge B — 07 Mar 2009

Slow moving, enigmatic, at times almost labyrinthine in its narrative and emotional structure, "Don?t Move" ("Non Ti Muovere") is based on a novel by Margaret Mazzantini and is most memorable for the performance of Penelope Cruz.

Mazzantini collaborated with her husband, Italian actor Sergio Castellitto, in writing the screenplay - Castellitto directs and stars as a married surgeon whose life takes sudden focus when his teenage daughter is rushed into theatre at his hospital, suffering from critical head injuries after a motorcycle accident. The film, in fact, opens with a stunning overhead shot of a road accident at a crossroads, the rain falling steadily. As the father waits, hopeless and redundant, his colleagues fight to save the girl's life, his attention is caught by a female figure outside the hospital window. He drifts back to another crossroads in his life.

Penelope Cruz plays a dowdy immigrant, an ill-educated peasant in cheap make-up, cheap outfits, bad teeth, and inelegant walk, eking out a living in a foreign country. She has been a victim all her life and now, a charitable act on her part leads to her being raped by Castellitto. Cruz has learned to expect nothing better from life. But their relationship continues, takes shape, takes form, moves from the physical to the emotional.

It's a tale of class, of status, of obligation. It's also a tale of love. Though she has the minor role, it is a film held together by Cruz. I found it difficult to have any sympathy for the surgeon - he seems to embody a cold, male self-importance and self-justification, a man who can (well, he's a surgeon) act like god and explain away rape as passion and as worthy because it has a positive outcome.

The rape is an act - there is no attempt to sensationalise, glamorise, or titillate. Cruz plays her victim's role with outstanding sympathy - she is at first perfunctory, almost instrumental in her emotional responses. She grows throughout the role, emerges as a fully fledged character and not just a vehicle for male lusts. The tale of tragic romance is powered almost entirely by her performance - without her, the film dissolves into a tame tale of adultery. Watch for the imagery - Cruz is the earth, the wife is the sea, the surgeon ? well, I leave that to your imagination and judgement.

The DVD offers some interesting extras on the making of the film and an interview (in English) with Cruz. It's a good film, visually stunning in places, with excellent performances from its cast. Cruz is the star, and will doubtless give the production commercial clout. But it can be slow and confusing in places. It's a film with which you should persevere - it's a film you'll almost certainly remember, but whether or not it's one you could say you enjoyed?