LIGHT OF MY EYES -- Giuseppe Piccioni, dir

©2001

director: Giuseppi Piccioni
studio: Film Movement

cast: Luigi Lo Cascio, Sandra Ceccarelli, Silvio Orlando, Barbara Valente, Toni Bertorelli, Mauro Marino
screenplay: Giuseppi Piccioni, Umberto Contarello, Linda Ferri
Italian -- sub-titled
Short Film: Dreamscapes by Sean McBridge

Antonio, a chauffer in Rome, has a chance encounter with Maria, a woman struggling to hold on to her daughter and her business. Antonio finds ways to help Maria, without her knowing that he's doing so, and at the same time, hopes that she will come to apprecaite him just for himself.

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Although it sounds like a description off of a DVD case, this movie had a real haunting beauty to it. I was drawn into Antonio's desire to be near Maria and her daughter. I understood where he was coming from, I was rooting for him, and was wishing Maria would make the right choices for a change.

This is one of those films that makes you glad for Film Movement. I would most certainly never have seen this movie if not for FM and am glad that I've seen it.

You wonder how long he'll allow himself to be taken advantage of, and when he'll lose his job because of the devotion he pays to Maria, and you wonder if he'll ever get out of the hands of the Mob. But through it all, Antonio remains true to himself above all, and it's that which has us cheering for him, in this romantic drama.

Recommended.