La sconosciuta
Encyclopedia
La sconosciuta also The Unknown Woman (U.S. release title, 2008) or The Other Woman is an enigmatic Italian
psychological thriller mystery film
, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
that depicts a woman alone in a foreign country, haunted by a horrible past, and in search of a lost daughter.
), a Ukrainian prostitute on the run, is determined to find a job in an elegant apartment building in northern Italy, and starts by cleaning the stairs. She does it in order to inch her way into working for a family residing in that building. She befriends Gina (Piera Degli Esposti), the nanny of the family's child, Thea (Clara Dossena), who also lives with them in their apartment. When the nanny is crippled in a fall -- tripped by Irena -- but presumed to be accidental, Irena is hired to take her place. Through flashbacks, viewers learn that Irena has been physically and emotionally abused, and forced to bear nine children, all taken away at birth to be sold to adoptive families. After stabbing her pimp and leaving him for dead, she sets out to find her youngest child, whom she believes is Thea; hence the plot to work for them. Adoption documents in the apartment convince her that Thea is indeed her daughter. The mother grows suspicious of Irena and fires her, despite the loving relationship that has grown up between Irena and the child. Irena's pimp stalks her and sends out thugs to beat her up as she walks down the street. He rigs her employer's car, leading to a crash in which Thea's mother is killed. The pimp forces Irena to drive him to a location that may or may not contain the money Irena stole from him when she left him for dead. During a struggle, he falls and is killed as his head hits a rock. Thea's father moves to a new apartment and prepares a room for Irena, but as the police suspect foul play around the death of Thea's mother, Irena is taken into custody. She reveals both that the true culprit is the pimp and that she killed him. She is tried, and sent to jail. Thea stops eating until the judge allows Irena to visit her in the hospital and feed her. DNA testing reveals that Thea is not her daughter after all. After she is out of jail, she finds Thea, a young lady now waiting for her.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
psychological thriller mystery film
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
Giuseppe Tornatore
-Life and career:Born in Bagheria near Palermo, Tornatore developed an interest in acting and the theatre from at least the age of 16 and put on works by Luigi Pirandello and Eduardo De Filippo.He worked initially as a freelance photographer...
that depicts a woman alone in a foreign country, haunted by a horrible past, and in search of a lost daughter.
Plot
Irena (Kseniya RappoportKseniya Rappoport
Kseniya Aleksandrovna Rappoport is a Russian actress. She graduated in 2000 from Saint Petersburg's Academy of Theatrical Arts and was immediately invited to join the...
), a Ukrainian prostitute on the run, is determined to find a job in an elegant apartment building in northern Italy, and starts by cleaning the stairs. She does it in order to inch her way into working for a family residing in that building. She befriends Gina (Piera Degli Esposti), the nanny of the family's child, Thea (Clara Dossena), who also lives with them in their apartment. When the nanny is crippled in a fall -- tripped by Irena -- but presumed to be accidental, Irena is hired to take her place. Through flashbacks, viewers learn that Irena has been physically and emotionally abused, and forced to bear nine children, all taken away at birth to be sold to adoptive families. After stabbing her pimp and leaving him for dead, she sets out to find her youngest child, whom she believes is Thea; hence the plot to work for them. Adoption documents in the apartment convince her that Thea is indeed her daughter. The mother grows suspicious of Irena and fires her, despite the loving relationship that has grown up between Irena and the child. Irena's pimp stalks her and sends out thugs to beat her up as she walks down the street. He rigs her employer's car, leading to a crash in which Thea's mother is killed. The pimp forces Irena to drive him to a location that may or may not contain the money Irena stole from him when she left him for dead. During a struggle, he falls and is killed as his head hits a rock. Thea's father moves to a new apartment and prepares a room for Irena, but as the police suspect foul play around the death of Thea's mother, Irena is taken into custody. She reveals both that the true culprit is the pimp and that she killed him. She is tried, and sent to jail. Thea stops eating until the judge allows Irena to visit her in the hospital and feed her. DNA testing reveals that Thea is not her daughter after all. After she is out of jail, she finds Thea, a young lady now waiting for her.
Awards and nominations
- David di DonatelloDavid di DonatelloDavid di Donatello, named after Donatello's David, is a movie award assigned each year for cinematic performances and production by Ente David di Donatello, part of Accademia del Cinema Italiano. It is the Italian equivalent to the Academy Award. There are 24 categories as of 2006.- History :The...
(Italy)- Won: Best Actress – Leading RoleDavid di Donatello for Best Actress-Albo d'oro:1956Gina Lollobrigida - La donna più bella del mondo1958*Anna Magnani - Wild Is the Wind1959*Anna Magnani - Nella città l'inferno1961*Sophia Loren - La ciociara1963...
(Kseniya Rappoport) - Won: Best CinematographyDavid di Donatello for Best Cinematography-1982:*Tonino Delli Colli - Storie di ordinaria follia-1983:*Franco Di Giacomo - La notte di San Lorenzo-1985:*Pasqualino De Santis - Carmen-1986:*Giuseppe Lanci - Un complicato intrigo di donne, vicoli e delitti...
(Fabio Zamarion) - Won: Best DirectorDavid di Donatello for Best Director-1965:*Francesco Rosi - Il momento della verità *Vittorio De Sica - Matrimonio all'italiana -1966:*Alessandro Blasetti - Io, io, io...e gli altri...
(Giuseppe Tornatore) - Won: Best FilmDavid di Donatello for Best Film-1970:*Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto, by Elio Petri *Metello, by Mauro Bolognini -1971:*The Conformist , by Bernardo Bertolucci...
- Won: Best MusicDavid di Donatello for Best Score-1975:*Piero Piccioni - Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto-1977:*Nino Rota - Il Casanova di Federico Fellini-1982:*Lucio Dalla e Fabio Liberatori - Borotalco-1983:...
(Ennio Morricone) - Nominated: Best Actor – Leading RoleDavid di Donatello for Best ActorThe David di Donatello for Best Actor is a category of the major Italian film award, the David di Donatello, given by La Accademia del Cinema Italiano .-Winners and nominees:...
(Michele Placido) - Nominated: Best Costume DesignDavid di Donatello for Best Costumes-1981:*Piero Tosi - La vera storia della Signora delle camelie-1983:*Gabriella Pescucci - That Night in Varennes-1984:*Nan Cecchi - I Paladini - storia d'armi e d'amori-1988:...
(Nicoletta Ercole) - Nominated: Best EditingDavid di Donatello for Best Editing-1982:*Ruggero Mastroianni - Storie di ordinaria follia-1983:*Roberto Perpignani - La notte di San Lorenzo-1985:*Ruggero Mastroianni - Carmen-1986:*Ruggero Mastroianni - Speriamo che sia femmina-1987:...
(Massimo Quaglia) - Nominated: Best ProducerDavid di Donatello for Best Producer-1956:*Angelo Rizzoli - Le grandi manovre *Goffredo Lombardo - Pane amore e... *Nicolò Theodoli - Racconti romani *Angelo Rizzoli - Le grandi manovre...
- Nominated: Best Production DesignDavid di Donatello for Best Sets and Decorations-1981:*Mario Garbuglia - La vera storia della Signora delle camelie-1986:*Enrico Job - Un complicato intrigo di donne, vicoli e delitti-1988:*Bruno Cesari , Osvaldo Desideri e Ferdinando Scarfiotti - L'ultimo imperatore...
(Tonino Zera) - Nominated: Best ScreenplayDavid di Donatello for Best Script-1976:*Alberto Bevilacqua & Nino Manfredi - Attenti al buffone-1977:*Leo Benvenuti & Piero De Bernardi - La stanza del vescovo-1981:*Tonino Guerra & Francesco Rosi - Tre fratelli-1982:...
(Francesco Tornatore) - Nominated: Best SoundDavid di Donatello for Best Sound-1990:*Remo Ugolinelli - Porte aperte-1991:*Tiziano Crotti - Mediterraneo *Remo Ugolinelli - Ultrà -1994:*Tullio Morganti - Sud*Benito Alchimede - Perdiamoci di vista!...
(Gilberto Martinelli)
- Won: Best Actress – Leading Role
- European Film Awards
- Won: Audience Award – Best Film (Giuseppe Tornatore)
- Nominated: Best Actress – Leading RoleEuropean Film Award for Best Actress-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-External links:*...
(Kseniya Rappoport) - Nominated: Best Cinematographer (Fabio Zamarion)
- Nominated: Best Director (Giuseppe Tornatore)
- Moscow Film FestivalMoscow International Film FestivalMoscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
(Russia)- Won: Audience Award (Giuseppe Tornatore; tied with Molière)
- Won: Silver St. George – Best Director (Giuseppe Tornatore)
- Nominated: Golden St. George (Giuseppe Tornatore)
- Norwegian Film FestivalNorwegian International Film FestivalThe Norwegian International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Haugesund, Norway. The festival goes back to 1973.In 1985, the Amanda award was instituted. The Amanda is awarded every year at the festival in different movie categories...
(Norway)- Won: Audience Award (Giuseppe Tornatore)