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.

One of the better films I've seen recently, Facing Windows (La Finestra di Fronte, an Italian gem is often elegant and sometimes poignant. It shouldn't be surprising that this foreign effort trounces anything Hollywood has coughed up recently. There are several noticeable elements that flow together well including an opening mystery and the interwoven romance, both of events past and present. I enjoyed the provocativeness of the forbidden affair that the main character Giovanna fantasized about and sort of intertwined with the mystery of the stranger at hand. Simone was a well done character as was her neighbor Lorenzo. As the mystery of the man is resolved, we still are unsure of what's going on with Giovanna - the movie takes the practical approach to the situation, and (spoiler) there is a short magnificent monologue concluding the movie. Although a few years old, one of the better movie's I've seen in awhile.

Have you ever wondered what your life would look like to a stranger looking in? If you were able to magically remove yourself and look at your "everyday", would there be insight to be had? Many of us allow life to pass us by. We do not demand enough, we do not strive enough, we do not mold what we have to the best of what it could be. This film compels you to question yourself, to appreciate more and not take things for granted, because our todays soon become our tomorrows and we do not want to be left with any regrets and what ifs.The film is very real. I felt engaged, I felt involved, and at the end, I felt serene. This is the calibre of film that film-goers live for.

I found this movie to be well made and meaningful. The acting was fine, but it was the plot that really carried the movie. Occasionally, a movie makes a connection with either a book or a previous movie which is uncanny in its similarity. When I watched Apocalypse Now, the connection was with Heart of Darkness. With Facing Windows, the movie could have been intentionally designed as a sequel to a black and white movie starring Marcello Mastriani as an intellectual homosexual in 1930's Rome. Across the alley was Sophia Loren who played the unloved wife of a fascist who was lonelyand attracted to Mastriani (without knowing his predilection). In the end, Un Giorno Speciale is of course a much more refined film, however, the elderly character in Facing Windows could have easily been based upon what fictionally could have happened to Mastriani's character after his days in fascist Rome. I would highly recommend seeing Un Giorno Speciale either before or after seeing Facing Windows.