Sunday 12 May 2013

REVIEW - TWICE BORN


What troubles we are each and all afflicted with, their specificities ever-changing, their effects the same. Twice Born is realistic in its depiction of its characters' troubles, and posits that the more trouble you get yourself into, the more you'll bear with you through life; it is optimistic, though, in devising routes out of the darkness, and into a world of one's own creation, wherein we can choose to be happy and choose to move on, to spite our troubles, rather than to reject them. It was a choice of Margaret Mazzantini's own when she wrote the novel on which Twice Born is based, to spite her story's many woes, rather than to reject them. She chose the more optimistic, less realistic route, and cooked up a first-rate tearjerker. As Sergio Castellitto's film wanders through its first hour, worming its way in and out of locations and time periods and narrative threads, it is all bluster and fluster, an earnest mess of styles and intentions, thoughts and motifs, an international stew of ingredients which just don't go together. As it descends into melodrama, though, the emotional synapses between these disparate elements begin to ignite; one particular twist may have been the straw that broke this camel's back, but in fact it seems to repair its broken bones. Stick with Twice Born, as it does eventually hit as hard as it ought to. The one and only note of consistency is Penelope Cruz, as vivid as ever, navigating a path most dexterously through a role which changes age (and almost even character) many times. Whether in flaming fury or in sweet silence, Cruz is one of the screen's most bewitching, enthralling actors, and it is her contribution to Twice Born that enables it to hold one's attention so firmly, even as it appears to be on the verge of collapsing altogether.


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