Biyograficim
Twice Born

Venuto al mondo

Movie · 2012 · 15 people

Margaret Mazzantini's novel, which won Italy's Campiello literary prize in 2009, lends both its story and its title, Venuto al mondo, to Twice Born, the 2012 drama that Sergio Castellitto directed and scripted together with the author. A co-production between Italy, Spain and Croatia, the film is spoken in Italian, English and Serbian, runs a little over two hours and opened in Turkey as Sen Dünyaya Gelmeden on 14 December 2012. Its genres include drama, romance and war film.

Gemma and Diego meet in Sarajevo, and falling in love with Diego changes Gemma's life in unexpected ways. Their love is tested in the middle of the Bosnian war; Diego dies during the fighting and Gemma is cast away to another country. Years after the war she takes her son and goes back to the land where Diego died, looking for the traces of the past in Sarajevo. Penélope Cruz plays Gemma and Emile Hirsch plays Diego. The cast also includes Saadet Aksoy, Mira Furlan, Adnan Hasković, Branko Đurić, Jane Birkin, Luca De Filippo and Pietro Castellitto.

Medusa Film and Telecinco are among the production companies. One Turkish review argued that the film fails to convey the crushing feeling of war and lets a wish for a baby overshadow it.

DirectorSergio Castellitto
Production companyMedusa Film

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Cast

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Saadet Aksoy Saadet Aksoy Actor · 43 years old Mira Furlan Mira Furlan Actor · died at 65 Penélope Cruz Emile Hirsch Pietro Castellitto Luca De Filippo Vinicio Marchioni Jane Birkin Sergio Castellitto Jovan Divjak Bruno Armando Isabelle Adriani Adnan Hasković Branko Đurić Sanja Vejnović

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Through different eyes

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Set against Sarajevo and the Bosnian war, the film looks at the mark war leaves on individual lives through a woman who returns years later to trace the past. That it is spoken in Italian, English and Serbian also signals a story largely built through the eyes of outsiders; the city's own voice can slip into the background of this multilingual frame. Even so, going back to a city years after a war in search of the past is a powerful theme that touches the shared experience of post-war societies. A thought-provoking starting point for anyone interested in the recent history of the Balkans.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Castellitto co-writing the screenplay with the novelist, Margaret Mazzantini, secures fidelity to the Campiello-winning source, but fidelity does not always make a good adaptation. A structure that shifts between a love story, a war and the wish for a baby seems to scatter the film's focus. One Turkish review argued that the film fails to convey the crushing feeling of war and lets the wish for a baby overshadow it, and in my view that is fair: the melodrama smothers the historical weight. Penélope Cruz's Gemma is the emotional centre; the real question is whether the film uses the war around her as little more than a backdrop.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

This is a drama of love and war. The story unfolds in the middle of a war and carries heavy emotions, with loss and facing the past at the fore. It is not one to watch with children. For adults who like emotional dramas, it gives plenty to talk about. If you want a light family evening, pick something else.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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