Don't Move (Non ti muovere) (2004)

47% of critics liked it
(60 reviews)
76% of users liked it
(6,374 ratings)

Don't Move is the second feature from actor/director Sergio Castellito (Mostly Martha), who wrote the script with his wife, actress/author Margaret Mazzantini from her best-selling novel. Castellito stars as Timoteo, a successful surgeon and permissive father whose teenage daughter, Angela (Elena… More Don't Move is the second feature from actor/director Sergio Castellito (Mostly Martha), who wrote the script with his wife, actress/author Margaret Mazzantini from her best-selling novel. Castellito stars as Timoteo, a successful surgeon and permissive father whose teenage daughter, Angela (Elena Perino), has just had a life-threatening motorbike accident. Sitting in the hospital, wondering if his daughter will survive, Timoteo thinks back to a fateful day 15 years earlier when his car broke down on a remote country road in the rain and a bedraggled young woman, Italia (Penélope Cruz), invited him into her ramshackle home only to have him force himself upon her. Timoteo then returned home to his lovely wife, Elsa (Claudia Gerini). But unable to get Italia out of his mind, Timoteo returned again and again to her sordid shack. They began to develop genuine feelings for each other. Elsa is reluctant to have children, despite Timoteo's wishes, so when he learns that Italia is pregnant, he has a critical decision to make about how he wants to live his life. Don't Move was shown at New York City's Walter Reade Theater in 2004 as part of a Sergio Castellito retrospective presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 59 min.
Directed By: Sergio Castellitto
Written By: Margaret Mazzantini, Sergio Castellitto
Genres: Drama, Romance, Art House & International

In Theaters: Dec 17, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Jul 18, 2006
Studio: New Films International

Critic Reviews

Tom Long, Detroit News
You don't like Don't Move, you admire it for daring to be a bit more complex, for caring about characters who are hard to care about and for plowing forward through all manner of ugly business.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
Though beautifully shot and acted, Don't Move still holds limited appeal.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Romantic melodrama of the worst kind.
Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune
The performances are exquisite.
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
It has grand flourishes, bold strokes and a soundtrack that swells with emotional Italian and American rock, but it doesn't go over the edge of sentimentality. It's too hard-edged and its acting is too restrained and fine for that.
Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News
Erotic yet lyrical, graphic yet subtle, edgy yet uplifting, disturbing yet reassuring.
Kam Williams, Upstage Magazine
Plausibly explores the question of whether a liaison initially based on a carnal assault and fueled by an unquenchable lust has any chance of evolving into a relationship based on intimacy, affection and genuine trust.
Kam Williams, Ellsworth American
Plausibly explores the question of whether a liaison initially based on a carnal assault and fueled by an unquenchable lust has any chance of evolving into a relationship based on intimacy, affection and genuine trust.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
The artifice that at first makes the film seem artsy and interesting becomes so oppressively heavy-handed that it dominates.
Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total
Imposible dejar de pensar en la asombrosa transformación, tanto física como emocional, a la que se sometió Penélope Cruz para encarnar a su Italia (...)
Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Someday filmmakers will recognize that blackened teeth and bad makeup make beautiful actresses neither ugly nor brave.
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
Don't Move is saved from outright awfulness by the performances of its two leads.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Saskia D

It's the second time I've seen it, and it definitely deserves a spot in my Favorite Movie List! Penelope delivers an intense performance that reminded me very strongly of Geena Rowland's performance in A Woman Under the Influence by Cassavetes. Beautiful drama. <div… More
It's the second time I've seen it, and it definitely deserves a spot in my Favorite Movie List! Penelope delivers an intense performance that reminded me very strongly of Geena Rowland's performance in A Woman Under the Influence by Cassavetes. Beautiful drama. <div style="width:640px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/dont-move-non-ti-muovere-non-ti-muovere-13886549"><img src="http://content7.flixster.com/photo/13/88/65/13886549_gal.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com">
Stefanie C

a haunting and passionate film.
Red L

An interesting movie. Sometimes a little confusing as Timoteo is remembering the past as his daughter is going through a life and death surgery. We find out he was about to leave his wife for a sultry Italia (Penelope Cruz), but chose to stay with his wife when she became pregnant.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic][color=darkorange]"Upside of Anger" starts out with a funeral. Then, it flashes back three years to when Terry Wolfmeyer(Joan Allen) and Denny Davies(Kevin Costner) bond over alcohol - she's drinking vodka; he's drinking beer.(Was Budweiser a… More
[font=Century Gothic][color=darkorange]"Upside of Anger" starts out with a funeral. Then, it flashes back three years to when Terry Wolfmeyer(Joan Allen) and Denny Davies(Kevin Costner) bond over alcohol - she's drinking vodka; he's drinking beer.(Was Budweiser a sponsor of this movie?) She's angry over having been left by her husband for his Swedish secretary. And this is most of my problem with the movie - it's natural to be angry and bitter after an event like that but all four of her daughters(each daughter has her irrelevant subplot) regard her with disdain but with no sympathy. I understand the need to move on but you have to be patient with the person in question and that's also in short supply. Oh and Davies is a retired ballplayer who is an on air radio personality who refuses to talk about baseball. (Lots of ex-ballplayers make their living this way. And as long as he pays his taxes I have no problem with this.) The main theme of "Upside of Anger" is that it is wrong to live in the past; but the movie clubs it to death and then drops it out of a very high window. Plus, the movie felt very manipulative.[/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff8c00][/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff8c00]Kevin Costner was also playing a member of the Detroit Tigers in "For the Love of the Game." As a Detroit Tigers fan, I have to ask: what did we do to deserve this?[/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff8c00][/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=green]"Don't Move" starts out with a shot looking down at the scene of an accident through a rainstorm. Teenaged Angela has been severely injured in the accident. Her father Timoteo(Sergio Castellitto) is a surgeon at that same hospital. His daughter's accident brings him to reminisce about the past - namely, his car breaking down on the edge of town on the hottest day of the summer. He goes to use the phone at the home of Italia(Penelope Cruz) and in a drunken rage, rapes her. He returns to again have rough sex with her and gives her money.[/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#008000]"Don't Move" is an Italian film that has some fairly high ambitions. The main theme concerns the very idea of forgiveness - can Timoteo be forgiven for what he has done? Or in more general, can men be forgiven for all the evil that they do? I don't think so, even if the film has other ideas...plus class plays a very important role in "Don't Move". Italia is a very poor seasonal worker but Timoteo's wife is quite wealthy. It's inferred that Timoteo is from a middle class background as he walks the line between the two. [/color][/font]
Lesley N

Penelope Cruz in a standout performance as a trashy mixed-up girl who becomes sexually involved with a repressed married doctor. You know its all going to end badly.
Daisy M

In Don't Move, actor and director Timoteo played by Sergio Castellito was a wealthy surgeon who seemed to have the perfect life. A beautiful wife, a luxurious beach house, but these superficial aspects were not what he wanted out of life. Timoteo's relationship with his wife… More
In Don't Move, actor and director Timoteo played by Sergio Castellito was a wealthy surgeon who seemed to have the perfect life. A beautiful wife, a luxurious beach house, but these superficial aspects were not what he wanted out of life. Timoteo's relationship with his wife lacked of passion and true love. Timoteo's life was changed when he met a woman named Italia , Penelope Cruz and raped her. She was a lower class woman and uneducated. Passion grew into love, and both Timoteo and Italia were happy when they were together.The movie was so realistic, it showed the daily struggles of each character and their desire they wanted to fulfill, such as love, passion and happiness. The ending was not a happy at all, showing Timoteo back with his wife and appreciation his daughter got a chance to live. Italia died,and Timoteo must faced reality and let Italia became nothing more than a memory and a lesson of life.
Leo L

An intriguing movie. Fascinating story plot. Here's a movie filled with a bit of drama, and love gained and lost.