Giulia Non Esce la Sera (The Prize)

According to what I read Guiseppe Piccioni is known as the author of “quiet and discreet” films and probably must be true as the description really fits this film that tells a story of man, but actually is the story about a woman that really becomes interesting thanks to an out of the ordinary performance by Valeria Golino.

The film tells about Guido, a writer nominated to a prestigious literature award that is totally unsatisfied with his writing, his life and himself. When his daughter decides not to take more swimming lessons, he decides to learn to swim and meets Giulia to whom he’s attracted for her personality and mystery aura. His life is changed and now he’s living an intense and real story with life changing consequences.

Unfortunately the performance by Valerio Mastandrea that plays Guido is not compelling (and as someone says the role is perfect for a younger Nanni Moretti, so was a terrible miscasting and definitively I agree) which makes almost one third of the movie tiresome while the character is introduced and the stories he’s trying to write become alive in the screen. But since you can say I’m a fan of Valeria Golino, I waited until her character started to become the lead and I’m totally glad as her performance is outstanding and the two nominations for Best Actress at the 2009 Donatello and 2009 Nastri D’Argento awards are more than well deserved.

The movie as a movie has good tech specs and high attention to details, that allows visual enjoyment with some scenes, especially some of the underwater takes. Also in this movie is Antonia Liskova –that I like since Riparo-, that plays one of the characters in Guido’s mind and has one particular interesting scene as a pole dancer.

This is a film that I can only recommend if you really enjoy Valeria Golino’s performances and are patient to sustain the boring beginning. If you do then you will really enjoy Golino’s excellent performance and her dramatic story in the film.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion