Facing Window review

The title and set-up may recall Hitchcock's voyeurism-and-binoculars thriller Rear Window, but there's more boredom than suspense in this Dullsville love story.

Giovanna (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) is a Roman housewife who spends her time staring out her back window at hunky neighbour Lorenzo (Raoul Bova). Then she meets an elderly man (Massimo Girotti) who suffers from amnesia, allowing her to approach Lorenzo for help in tracing the old boy's past. Together they uncover a decades-old love story consisting of forbidden passion during World War Two, begging the all-important question: will this desire ignite their own love affair?

Delivering another of his meandering, inconsequential stories, Turkish-Italian director Ferzan Ozpetek rustles up a pair of good-looking leads and plenty of breathless scenes of unrequited longing... and not much else. Too much foreplay and no proper climax is guaranteed to leave you feeling as unsatisfied as the film's pent-up heroine.