Twice Born (2013)

I love this movie so much

One of my all time favorites.

I'll tell you why so serious

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The only reason that I didn't fully enjoy the film was the handsome character of Gojoco that was misleading. He seemed to be in love with Gemma that I had the impression it was about 'their' love story and hence was waiting for them to fall in love till the second half of the film. The film keeps getting better with every passing minute till the very the end. "The wierdest love stories are the best" it was said, and I say war stories are the best. It expels our deepest feelings and fears. The poetic title of the film made me wondering about the meaning behind it all through the film. What is it that was born twice? first I thought it was pietro who was thought to be born by two different women. But then, at the end, it was still Pietro but because he was born in two diffferent circumstances. A very lucky war kid indeed.

Twice Born tells the story of interconnecting parallels stories upon one within the context of a story art. The film toggles between present-day scenes depicting the mother and son's complicated relationship and flashes of the tragic love affair between Gemma and Diego (Emile Hirsch) in the early 1990s that led to Pietro's conception. The boy's birth was the product of rather bizarre and secretive circumstances that places his biological kinship under suspicion, and the point of Gemma's trip is to reveal to him the truth about his filiation, but it turns out that she herself only knows half the story, if not less.We are then later to come in between. We then see Gemma and Diego's love is the sort that only seems possible in Europe. The beginning of their story has the gravitas of the destine-bound love at the center of Julio Medem's Lovers of the Artic Circle, but none of its focus, as Twice Born quickly turns out to be more interested in reveling in the secrets of its storyline than in its sentiments. Gemma and Diego grow apart as she discovers she can't have children and is scared that her sterility will make him chase other women. Although it does spark some chemistry and connections, the later scenes have a separate distance from one another, and it appears to feel more so all over the place. Twice Born does extend and could have been a little shorter, however there are an audience of these type of films.

To understand my summary, i would say that this movie is the mix between "Harrisson's flowers" (a love chase in the Yugoslavian war) and "Hindsight" (a crap movie that illustrates baby trade between parents). The result finally disappointed me as the story is unbelievable, too much baroque and the characters really antipathetic. I couldn't believe one second the lovestruck between Penelope and the photographer and their poet Yugoslavian friend keeps irritating me with his insidious attitude. Then, the story about Penélope's son isn't really realistic: all the twists and news about his roots really kill the emotion rather than make it appear! Worst, the Yugoslavian war appears above all like the necessary needed backdrop to raise the tension. In that way, "HF" was a much better drama about this conflict! However, the movie offers amazing make-up to age the cast: sure, it's about gray hair, change of clothes, but you could have a glimpse of what Penélope and others would look like in a few years. There's also a real effort to shoot on location as well. Now, regarding Penélope, she stroke me a bit as a female Pacino: kind, compassionate but ready to explode and shout as well when needed. Maybe it's the Mediterranean heritage that reached also the Adriatic coast!

Amazing acting from Penelope Cruz, she shows the true feelings of being a mother in an ironic sense. A woman's desire for motherhood has been well illustrated! Her facial expressions throughout the movie are emotionally penetrating and make you think about this movie for quite a while. The movie has a perfect story-line. The shifting between present and past is done is professional way so you would connect the events without loosing the line.Watching this movie is like a heart-rending ride, but cinematography and acting are rewarding. The background music faultlessly matches all episodes of the movie. In one word, it's a well-directed and well-acted Italian movie.