OVP: Don't Tell (2005)

Film: Don't Tell (2005)
Stars: Giovana Mezzogiorno, Alessio Boni, Stefania Rocca, Angela Finocchiaro, Luigi lo Cascio
Director: Cristina Comencini
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Foreign Language Film-Italy)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 stars

Random topic-why is it that films have alternate titles?  I have never quite gotten this.  While there are times that it makes sense (if, say, a word has a different meaning in a different country, I understand that would require some changes), but a movie like Don't Tell...it's confusing.  I remember when this film came out that it was regularly referred to in American media as Don't Tell, to the point where when Will Smith announced its Oscar nomination, that's what it was referred to by (you can see it here), but in literal translations it translated to The Beast in the Heart, which is a better title (it's certainly more memorable), and that's what it's referred to online if you google it today.  As that title totally works in the United States (there's no double meaning there that would confuse the audience), I'm confused as to why this was called Don't Tell domestically in the first place.  But I digress-let's get to the movie.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is about Sabina (Mezzoglorno), a woman who recently discovered she's pregnant, and has a relatively solid life.  A good job, a partner that she enjoys (and has regular sex with, a point which the film makes sure to underline which is why I'm bringing it up), but she starts to be haunted by nightmares of her childhood, ones she cannot quite comprehend.  As the film progresses, she decides to visit her brother in the United States, and confront him about these dreams, and what they might mean.  With the audience catching on far faster than the characters in the movie, it becomes clear that both Sabina and her brother were molested by their father during their childhood, and need to accept that they've repressed these demons in order to move forward with their lives; the film ends with just that, them moving forward having dealt with the pain that they both shared as children.

A film like Don't Tell is kind of hard to review, because it's an important, very serious topic, and one that the quality of the film might not matter if this is trying to open a conversation.  I don't know enough about social norms in Italy to understand if abuse is something that is openly discussed at the same level as it is even in the United States (where it's still pretty taboo for victims to openly discuss), and so if a film like Don't Tell opens up conversations, that's more important than the quality of the film at-hand.

But I'm a film critic, and I have to admit-Don't Tell is not a good movie.  In fact, it's a pretty terrible one.  The plot is rife with foreshadowing, to the point where you don't really understand why the screenwriters are treating what happened to Sabina as a mystery.  The acting is wooden, and none of the characters escape their two-dimensional etching in the script.  The movie really wants you to get distracted by the weightiness of the plot, assuming that you're watching a movie of importance so it's also one of quality and depth, but gravitas doesn't make a movie good.  If this is a film that helps open doors for victims of abuse to seek help or more freely talk about their experiences in hopes of gaining closure, that's amazing.  But if I'm being honest about the actual cinematic merit of the movie...it fails on all charges.