The Double Hour

Giuseppe Capotondi's debut feature is a puzzling thriller with a title based on a silly but simple premise—namely, if you make a wish when the hour and minute on a digital timepiece are identical (say 12:12), it will come true. After Sonia (Ksenia Rappoport), a Balkan refugee working as a maid in a Turin hotel, becomes romantically involved with Guido (Filippo Timi), an ex-cop turned security guard at a palatial estate, the pair decide to spend a day at the mansion together. But he makes the mistake of turning off the electronic surveillance, after which a gang bursts in, robbing the place and killing Guido in the process. Traumatized Sonia is haunted by visions of her dead lover, stalked by a policeman who thinks she was part of the robbery scheme, and unsettled by a reappearing mysterious priest and by a photo of her and Guido that she claims could never have been taken. Is she going mad? Viewers may not necessarily like the reasons behind all of the twists and turns, but the leads are so engaging that The Double Hour makes for fairly enjoyable viewing. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette (22 min.), deleted scenes (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a twisty foreign film.] (F. Swietek)