Romantic and philosophical, Facing Windows is a...gentle film with touching personal stories playing out to give voice to some broader themes, such as the Holocaust survivors’ movement, and freedom of expression and belief.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 9, 2024

The film hangs on Mezzogiorno's captivating face, as if searching for direction, and it's there you can almost forget you're in the midst of a mediocre film.

| Jan 29, 2020

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Feb 6, 2013

Cast and production values are serviceable but bland and there are some hiccoughs in the story, making this intriguing film perhaps best suited for a viewing on DVD at home.

| Aug 17, 2005

Sus mayores logros quizs estn en la manipulacin de los dos tiempos en que se narra la pelcula (...)

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 7, 2005

[It] gives off a lot of pleasure: in the performances, the texture, the moment-by-moment changes in emotional temperature.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 30, 2004

| Original Score: 5/10 | Oct 7, 2004

Strong performances by Girotti ... and Mezzogiorno make director Fernan Ozpetek's dovetailed stories of forbidden love compelling and vibrant.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 20, 2004

A shallow melodrama that seems more suited to daytime television or one of those Lifetime cable network movies.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 17, 2004

Ozpetek continues to explore his pet themes in his latest film while toning down the melodramatic excesses and meandering storylines that dragged down his previous work.

| Sep 9, 2004

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 4, 2004

Undermines its central mystery while posing another: 'What in God's name is this film trying to say?'

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 30, 2004

Blends romance, mystery and fantasy to beguiling, if slightly bewildering, effect.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 24, 2004

Aspires to be a self-actualization session for stifled wives, a plea for gay rights, a Holocaust story and a class in pastry appreciation, all at once...

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 20, 2004

There are two stories in Facing Windows, one of them profound and deeply moving, the other pure soap opera.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 12, 2004

Provides a fine showcase for a rising star of Italian cinema, Giovanna Mezzogiorno ... and a final salute to an Italian veteran, Massimo Girotti.

| Aug 8, 2004

Its easily digestible lessons on life failed to stimulate my more hard-edged appetite.

| Original Score: C+ | Aug 2, 2004

Well-intentioned but overburdened.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 1, 2004

Mezzogiorno...rises about the melodrama with a soulful grace that recalls Monica Vitti in her Antonioni films.

| Jul 30, 2004

Ozpetek ends up with a lot of balls in the air, and he has to do some scrambling to keep up. He pulls it off, but it feels like he's making this harder than it needs to be.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 23, 2004