AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

SnoopyStyle Irena (Kseniya Rappoport) is a mystery woman obsessed with getting the nanny job with a particular family. She bribes the building's manager to clean the common area. She befriends the family's nanny and then she even trips her down the stairs to her death. Valeria Adacher, her daughter Thea, and husband Donato have a secret safe in their apartment. Thea is pushed around at school and Irena uses unconventional measures to toughen her. In the continuing flashbacks, Irena is an Ukrainian prostitute who finds love with a young man. That past is never far from her mind and comes back to harass her.This is a movie precious with its ultimate reveal. It does a great job creating some misdirections. It lasts a bit too long. The reveal should come sooner allowing a more compelling action thriller third act. It's a compelling mystery for the first hour. The sex slave montage does get repetitive and possibly reveals too much. This could be a more compelling thriller if it's tighter.

Ganobi I don't agree with those who consider La Sconosciuta one of the bad movies by Tornatore.. This is absolutely a very good movie regarding the direction, plot and the performances.. in addition to engaging music .. the issue is that kind of thriller movie belongs to a different category other than Cinema paradise nova.....I like the Unknown Woman so much.. it discusses a very important problem across eastern Europe .. "white Slaves" through a perfectly indirectly done story .. It doesn't contain sex scenes without justification .. and it's really a serious and interesting movie at the same time

johno-21 I saw this in April at a screening of the Desert Film Society in Palm Springs. From Italian director/writer Giusppe Toranatore, best known for Cinema Paradiso, this is the story of Irena (Kseniya Rappoprt), a Ukrainian immigrant who has become a prostitute in a European sex slave operation in southern Italy. The sadistic Mold (Michele Placido), besides pimping his sex slaves also uses them as baby machines in an underground adoption ring to unwitting upper middle class and wealthy childless couples. After stealing a large sum of cash from Mold, Irena escapes to the northwest of Italy with a plan to become the nanny of a couple, Donato and Valeria Adacher (Claudia Gerini and Pierfrancesco Favino) to be near their child, Tea (Clara Dossena) who she believes to be one of those that she gave birth to. To infiltrate the family she must first find someway to get the job from their current nanny Gina (Piera Degli Esposti). Released in 2006 this was Italy's official submission to the Academy Awards committee for Best Foreign Language Film of 2007. With a reworked story this could have been a suspense thriller reminiscent of Hitchcock but Toranatore takes it over the top as he attempts to add violence, gore and an uncomfortable tension reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino but without the humor. The implausible plot and improbable storyline of this film that never really decides what direction its going in is held together by a strong cast led by Russian actress Rappoport. Through a series of flashbacks you get weary of trying to piece this story together with no satisfying payoff. One can soon come to dislike the title character of Irena as the Unknown Woman despite the horrible ordeals she has faced in this very uncomfortable and pretentious film. Nice cinematography from Fabo Zamarion and excellent music from the legendary film composer Ennio Morricone but I would give this a 6.0 out of 10 and not recommend it but hope instead that Tornatore redeems himself with the Lenningrad project that was to be a Sergio Leon film that he's working on. At least we know it will look good and have good music.

eyal philippsborn I need to clarify one thing before I begin this review. I am a man. I enjoy watching muscle cars hurdle through a race track, I could watch Die hard 2 any day of the week and I never had the urge to watch Desperate housewives/Sex and the city or anything else that might give me an insight to the opposite gender (assuming those shows do that). I am not writing this as an apology on behalf of my gender but because the female psyche is a realm that I have yet to fathom and this film not only exposes the abyss of the women's trade atrocities but also to the uncharted territory of one woman's quest for happiness. That particular woman is Irena (Xenia Rappoport- her performance is beyond describable), Irena is an Italian speaking, Russian-descent woman in her 30's that starts to work as a maid in an affluent house of well to do parents and their little girl. At first, her "curiosity" for her employers' belongings (and since they are in the Diamond business, belongings they have in abundance) leaves the viewer to assume that Irena is a skilled thief that believes in the broader definition of the term "Cleaning". Clearly, the truth is much more complicated.It is also clear that the past of Irena is riddled with humiliation, violence and degradation committed on her by, well, the lesser people of my specimen but most of all she is haunted not only by what she had to endure but by what she had and lost and more importantly, what she never got the chance to have. I am deliberately enigmatic because the film is too. The peeling of Irena's past is is gradual and seemingly sporadic and her past is gut wrenching and scarring. While the viewers are getting clearer glimpses of that past, Irena, knowing that the skeletons in her closet are vivid and always present, forms a bond with her employers' daughter, a young and fragile kid that Irena seems determined, far too determined to a stranger's eye, to instill the street-toughness that Irena had to acquire in ways that are anything but pleasant.The fictitious story of Irena (which is all too real to too many women) could have been a display of sensationalist voyeurism, a self righteous lecture of the trivial and obvious (and let's face it, I didn't need to see the film to find the notion of women trading despicable) or a mere excuse to show a morbid film under a politically correct subject. This film doesn't have a shred of the above characteristics. The director enhances the horror atmosphere by the chilling musical score, the absolutely flawless acting and script and primarily, by exposing a woman's quest for happiness amidst the live that leaves very little chance of attaining it. I am usually highly reluctant to discover major plot advancement in movies (even movies I don't recommend to watch) but this film excavates the problem because the deciphering the enigmatic story of Irena is so engrossing and the most valuable asset of the film that disclosing even the smallest of details might weaken the movie's effect. This movie is worth seeing with a companion so you can discuss its qualities and ponder of the true nature of the movie's end (and I used the word "Enigmatic" in this review far too many times already).There are a couple of matters that I do prefer to clarify:The movie is the reason why people make movies and why people like yours truly enjoy movies so much. Not only there aren't any noticeable flaws in the film, there are also no redundant scenes, tedious dialog lines that could be discarded or disturbing views that can be eliminated without heavily impairing the overall impression of the film. The disturbing views are usually implied and the ones that are clear appear for a fraction of a second but leaves a far longer impression. Those of you who envision this film as a myriad of scenes of red wine and Lake Maggiore passing through the window of a fiat 500 are in for a major disappointment.The rest, though, will experience the true effect of a flawless film that leaves an impression that exceeds the limitations of my penmanship.10 out of 10 in My FilmOmeter