It is hard not to feel rather sad after watching this movie, which stands out for the strong realism of both situations and characters. Realism is to be perceived in the difficulty of ordinary people having to live on precarious jobs, people for whom love and even more unfaithfulness seems a luxury, not so easy to afford. The movie reminded me of a French movie I have seen recently, "Partir", where a story of unfaithfulness and betrayal is one between a well-off but disappointed middle-age wife and a former convict. Different settings, different conditions, different endings, but same sadness. And the consciousness that whichever opinion one may have about betrayal, what is certain is that it's a dangerous means of self-destruction, mainly for women, those who lose more and find it difficult to start everything anew. The passionate love encounters between Anna and Domenico are marked by such intensity, preluding to an equally strong final sense of void and anguish. One may judge or not both characters, but some questions arise: why choosing to destroy oneself and one's family so easily? Why and what for do men and women hurt themselves? Probably unsolved questions, part of the mystery of human nature. Good, well focused and believable interpretations are delivered by Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher, supported by a wise direction, which lets the viewer see the bare crudity of some human relations, together with the sometimes incomprehensible nature of human behaviour.
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yris200210 May 2010
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Nice movie, although a bit too long, and somewhat stuck in the middle. The characters are very well acted, but the story concentrates too much on the two main ones, and they get a bit entangled in it, without enough elaboration on the side characters. It is a hard movie, with a dispassionate analysis of the contemporary Italian society which is quite accurate. Difficult not to be somehow touched by the story. I found the sex scenes somewhat disquieting, with their full account of complete intercourse between the two lovers, nothing left to the imagination, no poetry, just fire and passion, an almost animal frenzy. These scenes are functional to the story, obviously, and contribute to render it sad; they are necessary, in other words. But disquieting just the same. Anyway, good movie, worth your while.
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kipale7816 February 2010Silvio Soldini is a very good director. At his best, he can give us touching, inspiring comedies like "Pane e Tulipani" or in-depth social studies like "Un'anima divisa in due".
Unfortunately this film seems to be stuck in the middle, and ultimately have no point. Well acted (Giuseppe Battiston is always a guarantee), interestingly filmed, too little edited. Yes, the editor could have left some more out of it.
The analysis of the Italian contemporary society (financial struggle, emptiness, fear of engagement) is quite precise, but gets lost in a never-ending (and repeating) lovers' story, everybody gets tired about. The audience tend to look forward the other characters, the whole support cast (the friends, the betrayed companions, the families), because these two really go back an forth, back and forth, back and forth...
Alba Rohrwacher doesn't seem to have enough to work on, in terms of creating a complete character. She's good, but seeing her driving around for a while doesn't take the story anywhere. Pierfrancesco Favino has a more interesting character, and Teresa Saponangelo has a standardized role (as a betrayed wife and mother of screaming children) that we've seen way to often (what a missed opportunity).
At the end of the 'World Première', here in Berlin, Silvio Soldini didn't really know what to say, except to thank for the polite applauses. That's the point: he has the craft, the skills, the production means and the crew to create something new and revealing. We still love you, but please wait for the inspiration, next time. A film can come out wrong like "Agata e la tempesta" and still be an enjoyable experience, but if there is nothing to say, better to pass on to the next project.
Also, please have the English subtitles redone. They were pretty bad. Don't cut corners and have them done better next time. Thanks! -
lamont-hard27 January 2023I watched this film a couple of times and from the first then into the second time I came away with a different opinion. The first time I was absolutely sure of what the story was saying. But then on my second viewing a few months later, Things became a bit different in my understanding of at least from her part in ending the relationship.
In these types of films where the directors and writers guide viewers to what is happening, Or not happening, One can get a bit lost on just what is taking place.
The scene near the end of the film when she paid for the gift he brought from the child vendor, It hit her that she may always be in his families life with his kids and what he can and cannot do for them financially. What kind of life would they have if he had to give most of his meager earnings to support them. He made it clear that they were important to him. She knew he was a great loving father. Remember, she didn't want kids with her husband so how was she to accept being a step mom to his. It's exactly what her husband wanted, And it seemed he would be a loving father also. 2. It was a difficult decision to leave her husband, Yet the lover just belittled him not knowing he was a good man who loved and set his wife free. I think it came off as arrogant that he was able to concurred the wife with ease. He says"in a put down manner the husband was a loser and saint. As if he was nothing. This bothered her, When all her husband was trying to do was be a loving father as he was.
The ending still left me puzzled. Was she going back to start her own family?....The way he the husband let her go it seemed to me that the door was left open for her to come back to him.... Was she crying because she loved the lover but realized it would not work.... Was she crying because she realized she hurt her husband.....The are several scenarios that fit but I encourage one to watch the film and figure it out for yourself. -
kikoshaus29 September 2011This is a film I enjoyed watching it because even the awkward situations are well done. I didn't feel uncomfortable with any of the sex scenes even though the film poster could make people outside the cinema think this film would only be about the main image of the poster. I liked the fact Anna is more like a guy, she seems to be sexually practical and she even starts the touching with Domenico whereas the latter seems to be like a kid, waiting for orders of what to do next. He also seems not being afraid of his feelings for Anna and expresses what he feels; he's also the first one to say "I Love You" for example; which shows this character not as the typical jerk who enjoyed the time with the girl and then no matter he got attached to her or not, he (or she) just leaves. However, I think this film, rather than a standard film should be categorized as documentary film, enjoyable BTW or something. I didn't see such a strong connection of events leading to something specific in the whole movie. It's love affair, love, dilemma? but, what else? I don't see clearly what's the story to be told. I say documentary film because it describes so well how Anna and Domenico deal with passion and love. We learned a lot about those two concepts after watching "Come Undone" but I'm not sure we saw a story being told? Overall, I enjoyed whatever Silvio Soldini wanted to share with us though I'd die to ask him "what exactly did you have in mind, Silvio"?
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phuckracistgop14 February 2024I thought that this movie did a good job of exploring the mindset of a frustrated and confused woman. It also toughed base on a man who thought only of himself and was too weak to let his wife know the truth as to his direction concerning their marriage and two children.
I noted various red flags in his character that Anna failed to see until the very end. Including guilt trips, manipulative control freak behavior and stalking with physical abuse.
But their are people out here in the world who for reasons known only to themselves who will forever fall victim to these tactics. As evident with Anna and how she devolved into her need for attention that she thought she wasn't receiving at home.
As for the ending of this movie, personally I would have opted for Anna to reach home with the locks changed and her husband growing a pair to let her know that he was not to be played a fool and not to take his kindness as a weakness.
Just my takw on the subject. -
nmegahey17 February 2018Cosa voglio di più, English title 'Come Undone', is essentially the story of an affair. It provides little context or psychological examination of its characters, makes no moral judgement and offers little in the way of justification for their actions. The Italian title (translated literally as 'What more do I want') gives more emphasis to the idea of the film literally being about just wanting something more.
There doesn't seem to be any particularly deep want in Anna. Her sister might have just had a baby, but she doesn't really seem to be ready to have one with husband/boyfriend, Alessio. The relationship between them is easy-going and stable, even if there is no real passion there. He's a handyman, watches the pennies carefully; she works in administration for an insurance company. If their love life is unexciting, there's no conflict there either, certainly nothing that suggests that she's ready for an affair.
There's no doubt however that she is interested in Domenico/Mimmo, a cater who turns up for one of their work functions. Anna suggests coffee, they finally manage a meeting, and eventually end up at a motel for sex. It soon becomes a regular affair, but finding the time to be together is increasingly difficult. Mimmo has a wife and two children and has to steal an hour or two while he is supposed to be at the pool swimming. Anna, plays the old working late at the office line. There's only so long before suspicions are aroused in their partners, but Anna is impatient.
All Cosa voglio di più seems to be saying is that we all need a little bit of excitement outside the mundane practicalities of life. For all the passions that are raised, it's curiously detached, lacking the more gentle charm of a similar theme in Soldini's Bread and Tulips. For most films it would be the passionate affair and the exploration of deep emotional needs that would be the focus of the story, but Soldini intentionally seems to give more attention to the little banalities that have to be taken into consideration, taking time over Anna looking through brands of facewipes while she takes a call from Mimmo, or Mimmo mentally balancing the cost of paying for a motel room against the urgent needs of his children. It's refreshingly more honest about the realities of affairs, but that perhaps doesn't make for the most exciting drama. -
honey_comb15 February 2010A fast pace in the first minutes, then it keeps slowing down over and over till it leaves a sense of loss. "What more do I want" keeps telling a story with almost no surprise. Probably a teenage love story in a non-teenage context, shaking because of its voids.
Most of the social, political subjects are kept in the background. Full of love, love and more love. Or surrogates of it.
An upsetting watercolor painting in my opinion.
I do not know how this film can sell in the countries where it has been produced. Looks also strange how money can be invested in such a story and put in a film with good acting, photography, and direction. -
Anna, a young woman in Milan, is trapped in a loveless marriage to Alessio. As a couple, they function well, but one can see Anna is far from being happy in her present surroundings. One day, at an office party at the small insurance agency where she works, she spots a handsome waiter, Domenico, who is the opposite of what Alessio is not. Anna, for better, or worse, makes a tactical mistake in asking Domenico to join her for a friendly drink.
Almost missing the opportunity to talk to Domenico, they have a brief chat where they agree to get another chance. Anna is stuck in that she does not have anywhere to take Domenico, something that also puts a burden on him. He is married and things at home with his wife Miriam, is not exactly a happy one, complicated by the fact they have two children and money is tight. Domenico, who appears to be new to any extra marital sessions, must use money that is badly needed in his household to buy four hours in a couples motel.
Once smitten, Domenico and Anna experience a sexual encounter like they have not had in memory. Anna cannot get enough, and neither does Domenico. The result is a series of trysts where both must lie about the reasons for being late, or absent, to their married partners. Lust consume them. A week-end trip to Tunisia serves as a sobering reminder of what they have been doing and the lies they are now living. While Domenico does not want the affair to end, Anna has a different view. In the end, lust ran its course, only to leave them completely changed.
Silvio Soldini continues to amaze us with every new film he decides to give his audience. This new film solidifies him as one of the best directors from Italy. The excellent screenplay was written by Mr. Soldini in collaboration with Diorana Leondeff and Angelo Carbone. It is a story about two people that find in each other the passion that is lacking in their somewhat orderly lives. The way both lovers approach the situation will mark them for life. In a way, this film, although more explicit in its sexual context, kept remind this viewer of David Lean's masterpiece "Brief Encounter" in which two decent human beings discover in the other one a kind of soul mate that destiny denied them in real life.
Alba Rohrwacher is not a beauty to compare to anyone, yet, she is more credible and approachable than most of the Italian film goddesses of the past because the viewer can identify with her. Her Anna is a triumph in the restraint she shows, even at the height of her passionate lovemaking with Domenico. Pierfranco Favino also impresses because he is a natural for the screen. Domenico is basically a decent man who is drawn into an extra marital affair with a woman that stirs him like his own wife cannot do. Mr. Favino has the good looks the role requires.
Others in the film in supporting roles are Giuseppe Batiston, having been in other Silvio Soldini's films. His Alessio is pure kindness. One feels sorry for what is happening to him. In the end, Anna realizes she has jeopardized her marriage by her own recklessness. Teresa Saponangelo, Fabio Troiano, Tatiana Lepore, and Monica Nappo are seen in supporting roles.
The film shows us an unglamorous Milan, captured in vivid detail by Ramiro Civita who has a distinguished career photographing projects all over the map. Giovanni Venosta contributed the musical score. Silvio Soldini brings it all together in a film that adds luster to his career. -
ravitchn18 March 2017Once the Italians gave up on realism in film they were stuck with movies by such dullards as Antonioni, the bored doings of the rich and fashionable Italians. This movie is not about rich and fashionable Italians but it is still boring. Sexual attraction, can you believe it?, causes problems for all involved and the principal characters have to decide how far they will go in self gratification which also involves harming many other people. Here the ending could go any number of ways and the way it finally goes is certainly believable but also banal. I cannot imagine two more boring hours with some very unappealing Milanesi, not one is really attractive, male or female. Perhaps this is the new realism; give me the old!
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gradyharp26 February 2011COME UNDONE ('Cosa voglio di più', the Italian title means 'What More Do I Want') is a very slight film by the well respected director Silvio Soldini ('Bread and Tulips', 'Days and Clouds', etc), a story that seems to get mired in its own passion, unable to transmit a story line that will keep the audience's attention. Perhaps this is due to the 'too many cooks spoil the broth' concept: in addition to Soldini the story and screenplay were nursed by Doriana Leondeff, and Angelo Carbone. The cast is a strong one but the actors are just not given much to develop, leaving the audience with the repeated question 'what if...?'
Anna (Alba Rohrwacher) is an accountant for an important insurance firm and lives with her longterm lover Alessio (Giuseppe Battiston) - a man who longs fro a stable longterm relationship with children, a home, etc. Anna, feeling as though the fire has fizzled in that relationship and takes up with co-worker Domenico (Pierfrancesco Favino) and the two begin a passionate affair. Now it is Anna who is considering a longterm relationship but is thwarted by the fact that Domenico is married to Miriam (Teresa Saponangelo) and has children and doesn't want to leave his wife, instead preferring passionate occasional intervals with Anna in tacky motels. It becomes a struggle of human nature - which is preferable, a stable home life or intermittent moments of passion?
The actors give this film their all and the encounters between Anna and Domenico are incredibly sensuous. The problem lies with the story's lack of resolution or even momentum: it gets stuck in the process of offering a solution for the lovers. It is simply not up to the same standards as Soldini's other works - but those are fairly high standards to reach. Given the film's few flaws it is still a beautiful visual experience.
Grady Harp -
donwc199613 May 2014When it comes to hot and heavy sex scenes this film takes the cake. Oh, brother! Sure got me going. The rest of the film was okay but the sex scenes are what makes this film unforgettable and memorable. The director here sure knew what he was doing. He managed to make you want both the man and the woman at the same time! Yikes! What goes on here? The story is not at all original but the telling of it keeps you on the edge of your seat constantly. It was even difficult to take a break, the intensity of the situation was so demanding. Everything about the film was first rate. The acting, the script, the settings, the photography, the music, it just all comes together in a very classy way.