Susanne Bier
Noi Due Sconosciuti

THE REVIEW

Anatomy of Pain. The unexpected kind that tears you apart, that takes away a gram of your soul, that makes you scream against God. Because sooner or later it comes for everyone, and facing it is difficult. Each person can react in a myriad of different ways. Audrey (Halle Berry) does not react to her husband's death. Everything seems to have lost its value. The only point of reference becomes Jerry (Benicio Del Toro), the man she never accepted because he was a heroin addict, despite being her husband's best friend. Because ultimately, the adversities and circumstances of life can bring down barriers and prejudices, opening unexpected new paths.

It would be easy to immediately blame those who "translated" the original title in an ignoble way, that "Things We Lost in the Fire," which, besides meaning something entirely different, is closely linked to one of the central events of the film. The Italian title is entirely misleading and makes what is actually a dark, painful, and suffering drama look like a comedy.

After receiving the Academy Award for "After the Wedding" (Best Foreign Film), the Danish Susanne Bier arrives in Hollywood and directs the first film of her "new phase" for DreamWorks. Credit must be given to Bier for not depersonalizing her cinema and her direction, which in this case also relies on limited camera movements and intense close-ups capable of tracing all the emotions inherent in the actors' characters on their faces. Bier manages to create an intimate film, painful enough to ensure that it is not "spectacularized."

A well-directed and equally well-acted film that examines the mental and psychological interstices of two people both touched by the same pain, but reacting in different ways. Their dependency on something brings them closer: Audrey is lost in her new life without her husband while Jerry tries, without really succeeding, to distance himself from those syringes. The only way to try to rebuild a life is to start over from affections and set aside those "things" that were lost in the fire (hence the importance of the original title). Leave behind everything that doesn't really have value.

"Noi due sconosciuti" is a more interesting and successful drama film than the title and poster might suggest. A "screenplay" work that works, although it suffers from sometimes cloying sentimentality and a story that has been essentially seen before.

If Debaser introduced half ratings, I would have given it 3 and a half stars.