The Double Hour (La doppia ora)

Love and danger unexpectedly meet in this offbeat thriller, the debut feature from music-video director Giuseppe Capotondi, which was an official selection screening in competition at the 2009 Venice Film Festival where it won the Best Film Award.

Sonia (Ksenia Rappoport, The Unknown Woman, IFF08), a young woman from Eastern Europe, has recently moved to the northern industrial town of Turin. She wants to find a boyfriend so she signs up for a speed-dating service - facing the blunt and the sleazy - until she meets Guido (Filippo Timi, Mussolini in Vincere, IFF09), an ex-cop turned security guard who has been making the rounds of the singles' scene for a while. Against all odds, the two hit it off and a romance quickly develops.

Capotondi's tightly packed film has a measured pace, a deceptively simple and unglamorous look, and an admirably complex narrative. Rappoport's magnetic performance and sheer screen presence earned her the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, and Timi (who won Best Actor) oozes macho sexuality. The cleverly layered plot hides quite a few pleasures that might only become apparent on multiple viewings.

Not screening in Perth.