The Unknown Woman

Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore is probably best known for Cinema Paradiso (1988) and the Monica Bellucci vehicle Malena (2000) he is also responsible for this weeks Love Film offering, an Italian award winning psychological thriller, The Unknown Women (2006). Irena played by Russian actress Kseniya Rappoport, a beautiful young eastern European woman who travels to the northern Italian city of Trieste supposedly looking for work. But we soon learn that there is a mysterious side to her visit as she rents out an apartment she cannot possibly afford and begins to spy on the affluent couple and their four year old daughter who live opposite. Irena stops at nothing to become the couples trusted maid and risks everything in her quest to uncover the truth about the family and their young child. In doing so the truth behind Irena’s secret mission and the shocking reality of her previous life as Giorgia, an innocent immigrant forced into brutal prostitution by the Mafia, becomes a reality

A very intriguing storyline that seriously holds your attention throughout its 118-minute running time. Great acting from the lead actress and also from the young Clara Dossena who plays the four-year-old Thea.