His Secret Life (Le Fate ignoranti) (2001)

74% of critics liked it
(34 reviews)
87% of users liked it
(4,567 ratings)

A woman dealing with the loss of her mate learns he had a surprising secret life in this drama from Italy. Antonia (Margherita Buy) is a doctor who finds both challenges and rewards in her work with people with AIDS, who has also enjoyed a long and seemingly happy relationship with her husband… More A woman dealing with the loss of her mate learns he had a surprising secret life in this drama from Italy. Antonia (Margherita Buy) is a doctor who finds both challenges and rewards in her work with people with AIDS, who has also enjoyed a long and seemingly happy relationship with her husband Massimo (Andrea Renzi). When Massimo is killed in an auto wreck, Antonia is crushed and turns away from her work and her friends; while she tries to reach out to her mother Veronica (Erica Blanc), Veronica is too emotionally distant to be of much help. As Antonia struggles to come to terms with her grief, she discovers to her shock that her husband had been having an affair through much of their marriage, and her confusion is intensified when she learns that Massimo's lover was a man, Michele (Stefano Accorsi). Antonia confronts Michele, who would prefer not to say anything about Massimo, but Antonia is persistent, and in time the two open up to each other about the man they both deeply loved. As a friendship grows between Antonia and Michele, she has another surprise in store -- she finds she's pregnant with Massimo's child. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Ferzan Ozpetek
Written By: Ferzan Ozpetek
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jun 20, 2001 Wide
On DVD: May 20, 2003
Studio: Medusa Film

Critic Reviews

Ty Burr, Boston Globe
It's a soapy, simplistic, but surprisingly affecting ambisexual melodrama that plays a little like Pedro Almodovar without the surreal frills.
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
It's a lovely film with lovely performances by Buy and Accorsi.
Matt Weitz, Dallas Morning News
A warm but realistic meditation on friendship, family and affection.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
A movie that grows better by the minute.
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
Full of profound, real-life moments that anyone can relate to, it deserves a wide audience.
Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune
A boisterous, occasionally deft but also finally strained and uneven work.
Anton Bitel, Movie Gazette
Good acting and production design ... plodding pace, unengaging characters ... meandering plot.
Jamie Russell, BBC
Ozpetek offers an AIDS subtext, skims over the realities of gay sex, and presents yet another tired old vision of the gay community as an all-inclusive world where uptight, middle class bores like Antonia can feel good about themselves.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
At once overly old-fashioned in its sudsy plotting and heavy-handed in its effort to modernize it with encomia to diversity and tolerance.
David Ehrenstein, Dallas Observer
Ozpetek joins the ranks of those gay filmmakers who have used the emigre experience to explore same-sex culture in ways that elude the more nationally settled.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
The two leads give wonderful performances and when they try to connect with each other it's as awkward and desperate as you would expect, also real and touching.
Laura Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Ozpetek succeeds in portraying small nuances that demonstrate the stages of love -- unrequited or blossoming -- and in showcasing the family structure created by a group of people who have been rejected for one reason or another.
Marta Barber, Miami Herald
Though intrepid in exploring an attraction that crosses sexual identity, Ozpetek falls short in showing us Antonia's true emotions ... But at the very least, His Secret Life will leave you thinking.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cynthia S

Well..here's a movie that I totally did not plan on liking, but I did. Kind of alot. I instantly empathized with the wife, who was unaware of her husband's second life. I found this story of both the wife and the lover coming to terms with the false reality of their lives,… More
Well..here's a movie that I totally did not plan on liking, but I did. Kind of alot. I instantly empathized with the wife, who was unaware of her husband's second life. I found this story of both the wife and the lover coming to terms with the false reality of their lives, and then come to value each other in ways never imaginable, very captivating. And, for some reason, I found Stefano Accorsi (the gay lover) very captivating, also. AND I thought the ending was very clever. Kudos!
jay n

Good performances and an interesting story are hampered somewhat from choppy continutity