Don't Move (film)

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This article is about the Italian drama film. For the Garfield and Friends episode, see Don't Move!.

Don't Move

Directed by	Sergio Castellitto
Produced by	Marco Chimenz Giovanni Stabilini Riccardo Tozzi
Written by	Sergio Castellitto (story & screenplay) Margaret Mazzantini (novel, story & screenplay)
Starring	Penelope Cruz Sergio Castellitto Claudia Gerini
Music by	Lucio Godoy Vasco Rossi
Cinematography	Gianfilippo Corticelli
Editing by	Patrizio Marone
Distributed by	Dogwoof Pictures (United Kingdom) Medusa Distribuzione (Italy)
Release date(s)	March 12, 2004 (Italy) March 11, 2005 (US (limited))
Running time	125 min
Language	Italian
IMDb profile

Don't Move (Non ti muovere) is a 2004 film directed by Sergio Castellitto. It stars Penélope Cruz, Claudia Gerini, Elena Perino and the director himself. Both Castellitto and Cruz received critical praise for their performances, as well as several awards, including the prestigious David di Donatello.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Long haunted by the memory of a passionate love affair that ended in tragedy, Dr Timoteo Rossi (Castellitto) is forced to confront his past when Angela, his teenage daughter, goes into a coma after a near fatal accident. This crisis forces him to weigh the value of his daughter's life and his own. This spark leads us into his past affair with Italia (Cruz), a tender but damaged soul who works as a hotel maid, and on whom Timoteo risks his marriage to Elsa (Gerini), a beautiful journalist. Seemingly unaware of her husband's affair, Elsa lets Timoteo lead his double life, until that is, she gets pregnant and he has to make a choice -- a decision that will break both his and Italia's hearts. However, Angela (Perino), the light of his life, was born from this tragic tale, and it is she who has made his life worth living.

[edit] The Book

Don't Move was originally a book written by Margaret Mazzantini.

"I wanted to tell a love story. A story about a love that was so strong; yet vulnerable, solitary, extreme, wicked and pure. A love that really got to me, and left me filled with emotion.

I thought about two worlds so far apart from each other that meet and connect for mysterious reasons. I thought up the two characters, each with a void in their lives. There was a man with a hole, with something missing, a man who lived comfortably in a world filled with false certainties. I then chose an abandoned, needy woman with dignity and the interior warmth of a saint. A small stove meant just for ashes and next to this I put a heart in winter, a man bound with a sheet of cellophane. A surgeon, a man used to penetrating bodies with latex gloves. Then the void stops, it goes underground. Sixteen years of unperturbed silence.

And then there is the pain that thread’s itself through the easiness of this middle class life with an irreversible force that confuses the real meaning of life. This man who is existing but not living has to confront his demons before he can recognize the good.

It seemed very natural for me that Sergio directs the film. However, when we spoke about it, I told him I would not help him. Write it yourself I said, I worked on the book for 5 years. In reality I wanted him to write his own version of Don’t Move. I told him to cut it in two, tear the pages, treat it badly, and treat it how he wished. Take a pen and destroy it. Underline the sentences that provoke strong feeling within him and his feelings.

And this is how it was; he closed himself in a room with his copy of the book and wrecked it. I only helped him later on. When he asked me. We can say that my role was tying up the loose ends and making the final touches. The world of cinema is made up of people who move in a swarm around a set. I however am a private person. I like to go to the cinema afterwards, when there is silence and darkness in the auditorium and you can cry and be emotional in peace."

MARGARET MAZZANTINI