I don't know if I missed it in a blink or what, but last time I check, Massimo Girotti's character was supposed to be Simone and was staying at Giovanna's home. So, how come he recovered his memory, found his way back home and understood that he was really Davide? Did I miss something important here?
(I apologize for my poor english syntax and spell; I'll appreciate comments in order to improve it)
Hi, I'm not exactly sure but I do remember him saying that Simone was the only name he could remember. Simone was the name of his lover.
P.S your English is a lot better than some of the English speaking people here!
To acheive the impossible dream, try going to sleep...
Hi, Regina. Thanks for your answer.
I understand that actually he was never Simone, but Davide with amnesia. My question is more about how he returned home and recover his memory.
And if that's correct, what's the story of the numbers on his left arm?
(Since I'm latin and spanish native speaking, I apologize for my poor english syntax and spell; I'll appreciate comments in order to improve it)
Hi, CINEMATICO.
I'd rather answer you in spanish, as it's my native language, too.
los números que lleva Davide en el brazo son el tatuaje que se hacía para identificar a los prisioneros de los campos de concentración nazis.
****SPOILER******
Davide fue capturado después de avisar a mucha gente,pero antes de poder avisar a Simone.
Probablemente, Davide pudo volver a casa porque tuvo un regreso a la lucidez. Es algo muy habitual en personas ancianas, con problemas mentales. Una vez en casa, seguiría con su medicación que le permitiría hacer una vida normal.
Saludos
Hi Wonderfulllife
Could you please post a translation in English too?
And if someone could.. why was Fillipo crying towards the last scene? Was he holding himself accountable for Giovanna giving up her job and letting his guilt out? Cause for a moment I thought that he himself was having an affair with someone (maybe the bargirl) and feeling ashamed of it
Thanks
^Yeah, it's probably the reason why he cried...unless he was spying on Lorenzo and Giovanna doing their business you-know-where, but I doubt it.
Wala akong masasabi sayo. Umalis ka nga.
I think he cried because he realised that giovanna wasn't happy during all those years and that he didn't see it when it was happening.
shareI think it could have been more like fear or uncertainty rather than guilt. Being now responsible for maintaining the family until she can get a job, being the strong one while she looks for a way to be happy with him. And I agree he must have at least suspected something about Lorenzo, but also Giovanna's message when she trusts her husband with the changes she has made is that she is now 100% into the family, so I see it like a gesture of apology and commitment.
shareI think Filippo cries because he is a sensitive man (and rather likeable for it). There seems to be some gender role reversal in their marriage; Giovanna is the main breadwinner, and at the start of the film Filippo is complaining because she became aggressive in a shop and told the assistant where to shove her pencil (of course Giovanna is still the one left doing all the cooking and most of the childcare - it's not *that* much of a role reversal!).
This contrasts with her much more conventional relationship with Lorenzo, where she doesn't have to be the one taking all the responsibility. But for all his faults Filippo is a very loving person, and I think that is a major factor in her decision to stay with him. Perhaps she also realises that if she wants to pursue her career dream and see her children given proper practical and emotional support, she needs to be with someone who isn't also very career-minded. In this respect I think the film is about her realising that her marriage may not be conventional, but it's actually right for her.
On another subject, the name "Simone" can be confusing for non-Italian speakers, because in other languages it's a woman's name (Simone Signoret, the French film star, comes to mind). I couldn't work out how Simone/Davide suddenly got home and regained his memory either, but the fact that the actor sadly died during filming probably explains it - thanks for the explanation.
I really enjoyed this film - I thought it was touching and believable, and very skillfully managed to present (and intertwine) the emotional dilemmas of an ordinary housewife and the horror of one of history's most terrible crimes.
For my point of view, there is no affair of him at all.and that's not a guilt but mixture of a whole lot vulnerable emotions that compel him into tears.
During the first few scenes,we get an idea about different natures of this couple.wife is short tempered and bliterating while husband is soft hearted,kind and loving person.she is very mean too him all the time and always found some way to belittle him or dismiss him.during the entire course of movie, we didn't witness not even one loving glimp towards him.
I think that she never loved him or loves anymore.and after the peeping,lusting and having brief romantic affair, it seems pretty clear.and I also thinks she doesn't love lorenzo either.it just a lustful gate-away from her routine frustrated life and gain some excitement in her life.that's the reality.but for her it's the possibility of fulfilled love without any baggages. who doesn't want that.but loves always comes with a baggages and love,respect,commitment,trust is the base of marriage,here there are none exist.as the director's msg clears the air that you can't love any one unless you love yourself.
well,filippo is a sensible man, not a stupid one. and after their verbal fight, he knows what's she thinks of him.during the dinner with his neighbors, it's seems clear that she seriously thinking about leaving him and break the family which is heart and soul for him.and when she confront him in the early morning,the tension is palpable on his face and fear in his eyes. so in fact next night he feels quite a range of emotions mostly relieved,helplessness,agitation,agony, for future and in these state, a slite thought of his kids makes even tough man into tears..
during entire movie, she was very cruel to him and it's painful to watch.she doesn't appreciate what she has and wandering around for what she wants.
Filippo is a nice character in this movie. director has done a very injustice to his character by limiting his role for few scene and left it underdeveloped,it's just become the punching bag for her and pity for us.it has a very real potential to be a central character rather than a supporting cast.
I'll translate since Spanish is my major (disclaimer now is that my translation isn't perfect!)
SPOILERS BELOW*************************************
The numbers that Davide has on his arm a tatoo they used to identify the prisoners of the Nazi concentration camps.
Davide was captured after warning many people, but before he could warn Simone (his lover).
Probably, Davide was able to return home because he became lucid again. It's something common in older persons, with mental problems. Once he got home, he started to continue his medication that allowed him to live a normal life.
I welcome any comments on my translation...
but remember, it wasn't my content but CINEMATICOS :)
Davide was a diabetic sufferer and people who miss their medication can become confused and forgetful, not the sort of diabetes caused by high blood sugar but low, fits in with him being a pastry cook. The lady looking after him was the young girl he rescued.Filppo's tears were about being unable to rescue his situation with Giovanna because of what he was, giving full unconditionallove but still at the fates of not being in control of the return love, he was vunerable to Giovanna.
shareThe numbers on his arm, is the serial number every inmate was given at some concentration camps.
He chose to warn the rest of the city and thereby saving many people, instead of going in the opposite direction and save his lover Simone.
The character who plays Davide (Simone at first), Massimo Girotti, died in 2003. Perhaps when the time came when the director had to film the scene that included the missing link between him being lost and him being home again, the actor had already died, and the director had to improvise something. This could be the only valid excuse, because it really is quite a big flaw of the director otherwise.
shareDavide seemed to be suffering from Alzheimers disease because of the way his mind wandered. That would explain how he knew who (and where) he was at times and other times he didn't.
The thing that had me wondering was that it seemed unclear whether Simone was a man or a woman because it was never directly stated. I assume, based on several things, it was a man. I guess that because Davide didn't save Simone that Simone died in the concentration camp. Which leads me to believe that the woman in the shop, who said her brother died in a concentration camp, was, in fact, Simone's sister. I also thought that the little girl he was seeing in the street may have been the younger woman in the shop, or perhaps the lady who lived with Davide.
Whatever the case may be, this is a really good movie. I particularly liked the scene where she is in Lorenzo's apartment and looks across and sees her what her life is like and, I think, what she would be damaging if she carried out her plan with Lorenzo.
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Emperor: Tell me how he died.
Captain Algren: I will tell you...how he lived.
Hi,
I don't know if you have seen the movie with subtitles in English.. but, in Italian 'Simone' is a name given only to men. Otherwise, that would have been 'Simona'.
Talking about the plot, Simone died because of the fact that Davide heard his chief talking about the plan to capture Jews in Rome to send them to concentration camps, and so he preferred to go on the streets and tell everyone he could about what it was about to come.
The old lady in the shop was actually Simone's sister and the little girl the one that Davide saved and that ended up living with him.
I think it's pretty obvious that given Davide had Alzheimers (I can't remember the exact diseases the woman told Giovanna) he gained back at least some of his memory, realized he wasn't in at his home and quickly ventured there. Logical.
I also wondered why Filipo was crying in the kitchen that night while Giovanna stayed in bed, awake (figured perhaps she had dumped him). But, then again, she did mention that he actually cried when his boss gave him the day-time job he had been waiting for, and I think that's what this scene was about. I doubt he knew anything at all about the other guy she was "seeing" or any sort of insinuations like that.
You don't even have to be Italian to understand that Simone was a man. Remember in the flashback scene back to the bakery when the guys outside where talking? He specifically called Davide "queer", so, there you have it.
"If I could just say a few words... I'd be a better public speaker!"
- Homer J. Simpson.