A Perfect Day [Un Giorno Perfetto] * (2008, Isabella Ferrari, Valerio Mastandrea) – Classic Movie Review 12,803

Ferzan Özpetek picks wildly unpromising material for his 2008 Italian drama film A Perfect Day [Un Giorno Perfetto] and comes up with a dark and depressing movie, in which a violent jealous bodyguard refuses to accept his abandonment by his former wife. 

What is it about that title that fills the air with foreboding? Ferzan Özpetek picks wildly unpromising material for his 2008 Italian drama film A Perfect Day [Un Giorno Perfetto] and comes up with a devastatingly dark and deeply depressing movie, based on a novel by Melania Mazzucco, in which a jealous and violent bodyguard refuses to accept his abandonment by his former wife.

Isabella Ferrari and Valerio Mastandrea star as Emma and Antonio, who have been separated for years. But Antonio cannot accept the situation, especially when Emma dates other men. The jealous and violent professional bodyguard Antonio proves obsessive, aggressive and intrusive, attacks Emma and threatens to hurt their two children: the shy, introverted little Kevin (Gabriele Paolino) and the knowing older Valentina (Nicole Murgia). Emma is so down that she seems willing to give him another chance.

The film is just about bearable to watch one time, but a second viewing would be unthinkable. It is a struggle to understand the point of the story as much as it is to tolerate it. It is made with Özpetek’s usual care and acted with great convincing intensity by the strong cast. Isabella Ferrari gives a searing, unforgettable performance as Emma and Valerio Mastandrea is chilling as Antonio, portrait in the banality of evil. Milena Vukotic stands out in support as the sympathetic Professoressa di Aris.

The cast are Isabella Ferrari as Emma Tempesta Buonocore, Valerio Mastandrea as Antonio Buonocore, Nicole Grimaudo as Maja Fioravanti, Federico Costantini as Aris Fioravanti, Valerio Binasco as Elio Fioravanti, Monica Guerritore as Mara, Stefania Sandrelli as Olimpia Tempesta, Nicole Murgia as Valentina Buonocore, Gabriele Paolino as Kevin Buonocore, Angela Finocchiaro as Silvana, Giulia Salerno as Camilla Fioravanti, and Milena Vukotic as Professoressa di Aris.

The films of Ferzan Özpetek: Hamam (1997), Harem Suare (1999), Le Fate Ignoranti [The Ignorant Fairies] (2001), Facing Windows (2003), Cuore Sacro (2004), Saturn in Opposition (2007), A Perfect Day [Un Giorno Perfetto] (2008), Loose Cannons (2010), A Magnificent Haunting [Magnificent Presence] (2012), Fasten Your Seatbelts (2014), Red Istanbul (2017), Naples in Veils (2017), The Goddess of Fortune (2019), Nuovo Olimpo (2023). Also the TV series Le Fate Ignoranti [The Ignorant Angels] (2022), based on the 2001 film.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,803

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