Facing windows is the story of Giovanna, a woman that has grown dissatisfied with her marriage and her husband. She secretly watches the apartment that faces hers and the handsome bachelor Lorenzo that lives there. Her life suddenly becomes more interesting when her husband brings home an elderly man named Simone, that cannot remember where he is from or who he is. As the search for Simone's home and past continues, she finds help from her handsome neighbor Lorenzo. Will she fall in love with Lorenzo? What is the secret behind Simone's past?While this may sound like a steamy story of a dissatisfied housewife (the type that has become so overused in film), it is actually a very unique story that may not play out exactly as you are used to. All of these characters are brought to life wonderfully on screen and linger with you long after the film ends. It has a gentle message, something to chew on after the film is done, but it is more concerned with telling a beautiful story.Great acting, cinematography, and a unique story make this a film that even the most cynical film-goer will enjoy.

If your culture invents the campest art form (opera) you would think it has little trouble with deviant sex. But no, Italy is hardly known for a fantastically open out of the closet queer culture. To the contrary, gay culture seems to be one of the most closeted I have come across for a country that has been part of the liberal west for a long time. The men may walk arm in arm along the street there, but you cannot presume they are anything else but friends. Last time friends of mine visited Italy they had huge trouble finding any gay clubs or saunas. Do I have to blame that church organization in Rome again for this? In contrast, queer representation in Italian art, be it cinema, literature or the plastic arts, has huge abundance: Fellini, Pasolini, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Caravaggio, Versace... But when it comes to day-to-day Italian boys getting it on together, lovingly approved by La Mamma and patronized by La Famiglia, it's a totally different situation from, say, in Spain where the boys can get married and people like Almodovar have made a lifetime film career out of it. We watched a wonderfully romantic Italian film last night called "La Finestra di Fronte", which has a terribly sad gay side story of a young pastry chef who saved a lot of people during the war from deportation but had to sacrifice his secret lover to the Nazi round-up. If you have working gaydar you deduce that his secret hidden love is not heterosexual really soon but it takes almost until the end of the film for this to become explicit. Highly recommended and the totty award goes to Filippo Negri (husband of the film's main character, and doesn't appear enough times shirtless for my liking)

I have seen 3 of the 4 Ferzan Ozpetek films available in the USA, and I hope too see "Harem Suare" very soon. Between "His Secret Life/The Ignorant Fairies" and "Hamam/Steam," I think this is his most complete and well-directed film. Ozpetek is a unique international phenom because he is a Turkish director in Italy and an open homosexual. There is only one other Turkish director of the later distinction, Kutlug Ataman (the German film Lola and Billithekid). But, those unique characteristics are really secondary because Ozpetek is above everything else, a solid director. I don't think his other films quite achieved their full objectives, but this one does. For starters, the film is well cast. Giovanni Mezzogiorno, one of the world's sexiest actresses ( as in whoa! baby), has shined in films like "The Last Kiss" and she does here too. Then, there is Massimo Girotti of "Last Tango in Paris" fame in his very last film giving a moving performance as a homosexual Holoaust survivor. Lastly, Turkish actress Serra Yilmaz, who has made films in some 3 or 4 countries with the likes of the late legendary Turkish comic actor Kemal Sunal (1944-2000), is quite splendid in a supporting role here as the friend who gives heart-felt, but perhaps unwise advice to Mezzogiorno. The film shows the influences of Hitchcock (Rear Window- of course), Visconti, and even a hint of the Turkish melodrama but it is its own unique moving film. There are plenty of surprises along the way. Ozpetek has been known as the Turkish Almodovar, for his provacativeness, but this film will prove he is not a mere novelty but rather a solid up and coming director on the world stage.

I loved this film. While watching the movie, you never truly know which direction the film is heading. This makes the film both exciting and interesting. The emotions evoked by all of the characters are, in my opinion, very truthful and well acted. Relationships hit ruts. Many people in relationships fantasize about what it would be like to be with someone else or that the grass is greener on the other side. The holocaust did happen and tore apart many lives. The fact that the director chooses to sometimes float above these fairly heavy subjects only allows you to be more objective or rather subjective in your understanding of the complex issues. The music is a bit haunting and absolutely apropos.A film to enjoy again and again.