Life is an opera.. And so it seems..."the characters becoming prey to their own impulses..." This is the story of a married man named Matteo and his sexual longing for the young visiting hunk David. Would he give in to his desires? What consequences await them?Massimo Poggio who plays Matteo is an eye-turner even for his age. He is also one brilliant actor though I must admit I find him over the top when he got drunk at that party night.Film has some good sceneries spiced up with appropriate music. There are other subplots which may or may not move the story forward. Is there anything else going on between Uncle Leo and David.Don't miss the last 15 minutes. If you love drama and sexual tension, this is for you...

CONTAINS SPOILERS. Queer themed Italian cinema needs to grow up, this recent entry in the canon is all the further proof we need. Not nearly as god-awful as Ferzan Ozpetek's critically revered and homophobic HAMAM, DAVID'S BIRTHDAY is not immune to the sacrificial lamb syndrome. The "controversial" twist is all in on who will get butchered this time around, because we all know that homosexual desire is harbinger of doom. Slow paced and poorly written, often the case with publicly-funded Italian cinema, the film plays out as a cross pollinated low rent hybrid of Visconti's "Death in Venice" and Malle's "Damage". Such high influences are clearly stated over and over again, but high art - or even simple lyricism - are definitely out of reach for Marco Filiberti's fraudulent hands.

A Great Italian movie. I didn't like the ending though , but still a wonderful movie (why should all gay relationships be tarnished with guilt by writers). For some reason European films have a lower ranking than Hollywood films on IMDb even though they are sometimes of better quality. This is a great drama film. Whats great about this movie is the way it recreates moments and precisely conveys what the characters are feeling - the bike scene with David and Matteo is superbly done with background song "zingara" - interpreted by Iva Zanicchi, which is great. The actor who plays David's character is a real hotty by the way, watch out for an intimate scene with a song by Loretta Goggi - "Maledetta Primavera" in the background. The opera style music played in the beginning and end is a bit strong I felt - reminds me of 'Death in Venice'. The movie has a great realistic and natural style to it, everything including conversation flows smoothly and is completely engrossing. A good watch.

Maybe it's because I'm Italian but this Italian film is absolutely brilliant. Anyone who says otherwise obviously doesn't get it based on what the various reviews here say. Nor is this film for the faint of heart or the weak of mind. It is stimulating, thoughtful, and very intense because you never know what will happen next, a true sign of a great film. It keeps you at the edge of your seat biting your fingernails. But any film that begins with a Wagner opera is nothing to sneeze at and if you don't get Wagner you won't get this film either. Visually, it is nothing less than stunning, in fact may very well be the most beautiful film I have ever seen. The eroticism is unprecedented, true art, done so perfect that I sat there with my mouth open because it never borders on the vulgar. The cast is sublime, just about the most perfect casting you can imagine.