Cast: Margherita Buy, Silvio Orlando, Carolina Freschi, Maria Cristina Minerva, Marina Massironi
Director: Giuseppe Piccioni
Producer: Lionello Cerri
Screenplay: Giuseppe Piccioni, Gualtiero Rosella, Lucia Zei
Cinematography: Luca Bigazzi
Music: Ludovico Einaudi
U.S. Distributor: Open City Communications
In Italian with subtitles
It has become an all-too-familiar headline: a newborn baby, sometimes dead, sometimes alive, found discarded in a trash bag, dumpster, or out in the open. Years ago, unwanted babies were traditionally placed in bassinets on the doorsteps of churches or hospitals. Now, they are discarded with the dinner scraps. Not of This World, filmmaker Giuseppe Picioni's sixth and latest effort behind the camera, tells how one such event has life-changing ramifications for three people: the mother who abandons the baby, the nun who finds him, and the man whose one-night stand with one of his employees may have made him an unwitting father.
A note to the Catholic League: Not of This World contains perhaps the most sympathetic and positive portrayal of Catholicism found in any recent film not commissioned by the Church. Piccioni's movie never slips into propaganda, but the religious convictions of one character are shown to be deeply held. Spirituality and belief are key elements of the movie, and they are never treated with cynicism or disdain. The community within a convent is presented with unusual sensitivity. The nuns are not depicted as women who have thrown their lives away, but as individuals who believe they have been called and, despite being scared or uncertain at times, are doing their best to be true to that calling.
Not of This World traces the lives of the three central characters as they intersect and diverge. Teresa (Carolina Freschi), the baby's young, unwed mother, abandons the child after deciding that she is unable and unwilling to care for him. Caterina (Margherita Buy), a nun who is 11 months away from saying her final vows, finds the baby and takes him to the hospital, where she visits him daily. Determined to find the mother, she uses the only clue at her disposal - a cleaner's tag on the blanket the baby was wrapped in - to begin her search. That leads her to Ernesto (Silvio Orlando), the distant, lonely proprietor of a laundry. Realizing that he may be the child's father - he slept with Teresa about nine months ago - he reluctantly joins Caterina's search.
All three principals have unfulfilled needs. The baby brings out an unexpected maternal yearning in Caterina - an impulse so strong that she must carefully consider whether a life in the convent is what she truly desires. Ernesto has sacrificed any and all interpersonal relationships in the single-minded pursuit of business. He is unmarried, has no friends, and can't even remember the names of his employees. Yet, although he recognizes his loneliness, his actions are those of someone paralyzed by circumstances. When a comely woman flirts with him at a bar, he acts distracted and disinterested. Finally, Teresa must cope with the aftermath of her impulsive action.
In a traditional Hollywood rendering of this story, relationships would be carefully etched out and the level of melodrama ratcheted up. What Piccioni brings to this relatively straightforward story is the depth of real human interaction. Nothing is presented as straightforward - the motivations of the people involved are far too complex for that. The film does not demonize Teresa, but neither does it offer her a convenient way to escape the moral consequences of her act. And the gentle friendship between Caterina and Ernesto does not become a banal movie romance. Instead, it offers both of them an opportunity to reflect upon their own failings. The ending is satisfying because it presents a sense of closure for both Caterina and Ernesto without resorting to the over-the-top romantic tricks typically employed in higher profile crowd pleasers.
The acting is of the highest caliber. Margherita Buy, appearing in her fourth film for Piccioni, manages the difficult task of inhabiting a character who, while committed to her calling, experiences profound moments of self-doubt and a yearning for something she does not have. Buy successfully avoids the temptation to overact, and her understated performance makes Caterina real. Silvio Orlando perfectly captures the mannerisms and attitude of a man who has cut himself off from the world and is enduring an existence of regret. Finally, Carolina Freschi, although not accorded the same amount of screen time as her co-stars, suggests a woman who has put her terrible deed behind her, except in those moments when a flash of panic or despair flickers across her features.
Not of This World would be the perfect film for the Catholic League to champion. It espouses many of the values they rail against movies for ignoring, and does so without ever seeming didactic or artificial. Nevertheless, that esteemed group of zealous watchdogs will remain silent in this case because there are no headlines to be made. Meanwhile, Piccioni's film has amassed an impressive number of awards, including five Italian Academy Awards, a Special Grand Jury Prize at the Montreal World Film Festival and the Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival. It was also Italy's official Oscar selection for Best Foreign Language Film. With its simple yet deftly realized tale and expert characterization, Not of This World is deserving of the recognition it has received.
© 2000 James Berardinelli