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.

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.

Silvio 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!

A 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.