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NOT OF THIS WORLD Send This Review to a Friend
Credit director Giuseppe Piccioni with serving us an excpetionally fine dramatic treat from Italy. "Not of This World," co-written by Piccioni with Gualtiero Rosella, is full of surprises as it explores complications in finding one's path in life and establishing relationships. There are richly textured observations about people, values and life in general, and the unusual and convincing story-line, enlivened by humor as well as drama, earns our interest and emotional involvement as well as admiration for the film's artistry.
One day Caterina (Margherita Buy), who is about to take her final vows as a nun after five years of preparation, is walking through a park in Milan. A jogger suddenly thrusts into her arms a baby he says he has found and runs off. Bewildered but compassionate Caterina takes the baby to a hospital, then privately sets off on an obsessive search to find the mother. In the process she gets to know Ernesto (Silvio Orlando), on the surface an up-tight man detached from relationships and consumed by his dry cleaning business. Another key character is Teresa (Carolina Freschi), whose life is in perpetual turmoil.
The friendships that are struck help the characters get to know themselves better as well as relate more openly to others. Is Caterina really cut out to be a nun? Is there another side to Ernesto? Piccioni extracts mileage from focusing on peripheral characters as well, including Caterina's mother, who scorns her daughter's devotion to God as always putting someone else ahead of her mother. One attractive but lonely woman makes a habit of leaving her phone number on restaurant tables in hope that someone will call. The portrait of life in the religious order is well drawn and helps broaden the perspective.
The acting by Margherita Buy and Silvia Orlando is particularly top notch, and they are backed by an excellent cast. "Not of This World" is reminiscent of some of the outstanding Italian films of bygone years and raises hopes that there will be new vitality in Italian cinema, as exemplified by such successes as "Life is Beautiful" and "Cinema Paradiso." An Entertech Releasing Corporation release.
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