If you're gay and want to enjoy a classy Italian film full of warmth and humanity then this one is for you. If you are straight and not homophobic and want to enjoy a classy Italian film full of warmth and humanity, then this movie is also for you. Whichever way you swing you're in for a treat. Great soundtrack too.And for those, like me, who yearn for an upbeat and satisfying ending? Well, I'll just say that the final scenes and the bouncing glass tumbler deliver. To understand this you'll need to have been paying attention earlier when a dropped tumbler breaks. Subtle and stylish, just like the rest of this terrific film.WARNING: if you don't speak Italian and need to download English subtitles beware there are two versions: one is excellent (first line is translated as "May l have the honor of being your guide?") and one is rubbish (first line is translated as "Can I be your guide?")

It is such a delight to watch a gay-themed film which is not over-indulged in melodramatic sentiment and what's more precious is that it innovates an authentic and positive gay community within to encourage more people to look on the brighter side of the world.Ozpetek's self-imposed gay identity opens a gate for us to see more scrupulously into contemporary gay communities, without the thwart of the religion, the social prejudice, the indoctrinated moral standards from family and friends. It manifests that sexual orientation is much of a choice rather than any mammoth title being forcefully added upon this minority group.The film is epidemic to all kinds of demographic classes, gay/straight/bi-sexual, man/woman/transsexual, everyone could dip into it and acquire different nutrition which he/she needs.The acting is generally agreeable, Margherita Buy as the female protagonist, manages an amiable appearance to elevate the inner intricate complexion of her character. Stefano Accorsi, on the other hand, is more an unsubdued opposed image to underline the other facade of Margherita's role, a quirky chemistry could emerge between this two friend and foe (demonstrated by an explicit kiss scene where both try to find the scent of her husband/his lover), as a matter of fact, it is individual nuance matters here, anything else could not be exerted as a criterion anymore.The Turkey-born director Ferzan Ozpetek's skill hones to a new state after his debut STEAM: THE Turkish BATH (1997) and LAST HAREM (1999), the milieu and the myriad of different characters develop an affluent emotional touch eventually (although most of them are underwritten as a sacrifice of the main storyline).Anyhow, Ozpetek has established his fame and poise as the most promising contemporary Italian directors, his latest work LOOSE CANNONS (2010) will be my next object.

This was a chance rental, recommended by the owner of my local rental shop and it was a wonderful surprise. We are introduced to the perfect marriage at the outset, Antonia, the wife (played winningly by Margherita Buy) and Massimo, the husband ( played by Andrea Renzi) It is fifteen years along into the marriage straight out of high school and it is sexy and fulfilling, with a wonderful house on a lake, a full time maid and no children by choice.And just like that, Massimo is killed in a traffic accident and thus begins the story of the unfolding of the secret that he withheld from Antonia for seven years.In her detective work, Antonia, an AIDS doctor, uncovers another life that Massimo has lived.Enter handsome Michele ( played by Stefano Accorci), who lives an openly gay life, filled with friends, some straight, some gay, some transgendered. Michele is real, flaws and all and conveys the promiscuous life of a lusty gay male.Antonia and Michele fight a burgeoning attraction for each other with Antonia repulsed at times by his sexuality with other men. She also becomes bonded with his friends (she has made Massimo her raison d'etre and abandoned other friends for him) and slowly begins to understand his grief process.Nothing is drawn in black and white here. One senses that Antonia and Michele are right for each other. Massimo was never an intellectual whereas Michele and Antonia are. There are many layers to the story and some wonderful characterizations. The part of Antonia's mother is a particular delight as is the part of Serra, they both have their secrets too.I gave it a 9 out of 10 for the Italy that it shows, a colourful, complex Italy and the characters that clamp around the heartstrings and don't release for a long time afterwards. The only flaw was in the measly subtitles but at times my Italian was good enough to pick up the nuances and the unsubtitled dialogue and background.Bravo and Brava to all.

Rating 6/10I found it hard to enjoy the film much. It was not easy to be sympathetic to the protagonist. She moped around and was rather dull. I know Antonia's husband had just died and she then discovered his dread dark secret, but even so she did not provide a strong core for the film to be structured around. The film contrasted the coldness and sterility of her life (didn't she have any friends?), with the warmth of her dead husband's lover and his circle of friends. The movie didn't give any convincing reason why she wanted to insert herself into her dead husband's secret life, or why his lover and circle of friends wanted her in their lives. Then when she didn't need them any more, she moved on.Another difficulty was that I had trouble deciding what the film was trying to say. I might could describe it as a 'slice of life', but that is something of a cop-out unless you can define what particular slice of life the film is trying to show. Otherwise, you might just as well have a camera following some random family going about its normal business. Oh yes, we do and it's called reality TV. And no-one has ever accused reality TV of having any pretensions of having any intellectual or artistic value.I thought for a while that the main theme was the importance of honesty and the cost of keeping secrets. But then Antonia had her own secret that she was quite happy keeping, for no good reason that I could see. I ended with the conclusion that the film is about the widow coming to terms with her husband's death. But does that mean that the husband's homosexual side was nothing but a plot device of the worse possible thing that a wife could find out about her husband?That brings me to the question of why is the film titled "Ignorant fairies"? Sure, it describes a particular plot device and it refers to the fact that the lover and many of his friends were gay. But does fairy have the same negative connotation in Italian as English? And why ignorant? If anything, it was Antonia who was ignorant because of her unawareness of her husband's secret life.By the end of the film I was left feeling vaguely uneasy about the intentions of the director and the subtext of the film.