I hadn't read the novel by Margaret Mazzantini, but was enough prepared for the toughness of the story, however, I was deeply shocked by the harshness of the drama. The movie is certainly well built, being the director the novelist's husband, he could probably render best the real substance of the story and the characters. Moving forward and backwards in time is not something new, but always a gripping technique, letting the viewer catch the progress of the story little by little. Indeed, there's no haste in a sometimes too slow movie, the second part far better than the first, with a very good historical reconstruction of a debased Sarajevo under siege, because of a war we Europeans have forgotten too quickly. I liked the performances offered by Penelope Cruz, very intense but well balanced, Emile Hirsch is really great and there's a good empathy between the two. There's also an international variety of incisive, unconventional musical choices, from Nirvana to Bruce Springsteen. Sometimes overenthusiastic, they undoubtedly prove very forceful and the scene of bombing on the notes of "Something in the way" leaves the mark. On the whole, a very dramatic movie, where the horror of war and of the human species certainly prevails, but with a sense of hope which I found soothing and in a way necessary.
Review of Twice Born
