Review of Facing Windows (2003) by Budge B — 10 Mar 2009

A murder mystery? Or just a mystery? A love story? Or two? Maybe even three? Fidelity? Infidelity? Loyalty? Betrayal? A ghost story? Or a haunting reminder? A fresh perspective on life and relationships? Or a look at how we perceive one another, understand the events which take place around us?

"Facing Windows" is a deliberately enigmatic film, beautifully performed, delivered as a tenderly intimate enquiry into life, love and family. A married couple, past the first blush of love and lust and now consumed with the stress of routines they can no longer endure, discover an old man wandering the streets of Rome. He has lost his memory, and perhaps his mind. Though they try to lose him, he becomes embroiled in their lives.

Across the way lives a handsome, young, successful man. The wife has noticed him and he becomes the trigger for her fantasies, a source of what might yet be in her life ? escape from the mundane into which she has drifted. If the old man has forgotten his past, she would like to consign hers to history and create a new future. But they are all trapped in the present, watching from a distance as their lives drift by.

This is an intriguing, engrossing film. Slow paced, it weaves its mysteries into an engaging plot which keeps you guessing, keeps you watching. The theme of looking out a window has been used in other films, but here we have a novel, creative approach which is both charming and compulsive.

Ultimately it's an inspiring piece of work, a statement that you should demand to live in a better world, should not settle for tedium and dreams. It's a film about passion and love which will capture your affections. Excellent, well worth watching ? but not if you're on a diet!