You could use one of those glib Hollywood pitches to describe “The Unknown Woman” (“La Sconosciuta”): Why, it’s “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle — Italian Style!” But because this character-driven thriller builds through the unhurried rhythms and sincere purpose of refined European drama — and not Hollywood genre dictates — we actually come to care deeply about this nanny from hell.
In today’s case, a mysterious Ukrainian woman named Irena is from, without exaggeration, a hell on earth. In her sadomasochistic hell of female victimization and criminal male cruelty, the most frightening villain in the movies this year reins over her and forces on her the “stage name” Georgia.
We gradually learn the gruesome details of her past in chilling flashes as her current motivations are slowly revealed. They come out through her haunted memory as she desperately insinuates herself into the lives of a small Italian family in this critically acclaimed winner of five Italian “Oscars” (called the David di Donatello Awards), including for Best Picture. It’s directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore, known for an acclaimed love song to the movies, 1988’s “Cinema Paradiso.”
Irena/Georgia, played with a dignified strength by Kseniya “Xenia” Rappoport, will do anything, even deliberately maim an unsuspecting bystander, in order to get a job as the maid and baby sitter for a well-to-do couple (Claudia Gerini and Pierfrancesco Favino). What seems to intrigue the protagonist is their precocious 4-year-old daughter Thea, played with a believability and wit beyond her years by expressive little Clara Dossena.
But why is Irena so willing to debase herself and risk great dangers just to put herself in the presence of Thea?
Even as you think you’ve easily figured out its secrets, the piece turns in unexpected, heartrending directions. It all hinges on the dastardly deeds of a muscular, bald thug nicknamed “Mold.” This imposing, Mussolini type is played by Michele Placido, who delivers a performance so indelibly evil that I — quite literally — had nightmares about him the evening after I saw the picture. I woke up in a sweat; he seemed so real.
Despite some holes in the plot’s logic and its occasionally gratuitous adults-only darkness, “The Unknown Women” sucks you in with full characters, polished acting and tense direction in a way that many pictures of this kind from the American studio system just don’t.
Quick info
“The Unknown Woman”
4 out of 5 Stars
Stars: Kseniya Rappoport, Clara Dossena, Michele Placido
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Not MPAA Rated. Contains very graphic material.
Running Time 121 minutes
In Italian with English subtitles
