sam-519
I arrived at this film expecting little but a fleshed-out - pun intended - simple-minded lesbian drama. How wrong, I am pleased to say, I was. Room in Rome is not only the story of two girls who meet one evening and then stay together for one night only, never to see each other again, but it is the story of what each one of us truly wants in our love and sex lives. Something new, fresh, exciting and personal. Room in Rome presents the story of two girls who share their life stories and physical intimacies one night before realising, against their fantasies, that the cruel fate of reality means they must go back to their partners and real lives the next day. But what makes the film so special, so tangible, is the sense of honesty it awakens in each of us. Those in long-term relationships know all too well that the more time goes on, the less there is to discover. This film is all about discovery: discovery of each other, discovery of sensuality, discovery of oneself. In long-term relationships, discovery is the ultimate fantasy, and one which is so often lacking. In Room in Rome, the two girls discover an attraction for one another which is based on the longings and lackings in their own lives. The film is split into two physical and psychological areas - the bedroom and the bathroom - and the balcony which acts as a transition area between the two rooms and the two mental states. The bedroom is where the magic happens. It is close, low-lit and sensual. It is where both girls open up to each other personally and sexually. It is all about them, no room for anyone else, as exemplified by the close-up shots, their consistent closeness and nakedness. When the good-looking (objectively) room servicer Max asks for a threesome, he gets refused. There is literally no room for him. This is all about them. When the morning light hits, the two breakfast outside before moving into the white clinical area of the bathroom, which cleanses the fantasy from their bodies and minds. Indeed, when either enter this area, it's as if they come to their senses and the fantasy is left elsewhere. In the morning, they realise they must go to their respective lives. They hold each other in the bath longingly against the sterile white of the tiles as the camera indulges in long shots, few of which we see in the bedroom, emphasising the foreshadowing of emotional and physical distance. Natasha talks of dressing in white, like the dressing gown she often dons, and white becomes a signifier for wiping clean her experiences, but also denying herself. She spends the entire film in denial whereas Alba spends it mostly being true to herself, but mostly wanting.Room in Rome is not so much of a sexual film - or an erotic film - but a sensual one. It explores the depth of the senses in a physical and emotional way, and emphasises the necessities of listening to one's emotions in spite of the routines that one finds oneself in and the pits of long-term relationships that solidify our lives. It is up to us to make the latter more like the former and the former less like the latter. For those of us who HAVE spent nights in hotels like those in Room in Rome, we know how special they were. But did they endure - and did those relationships endure? Most of them didn't. What Room in Rome shows us, or reminds us, is what we really want in our sex/sense lives: newness, discovery, excitement, intimacy. But we still want stability - and therein lies the challenge of our relationships, to balance the two. And maybe if we can balance these, then we can have something which endures - unlike that which these two girls unfortunately, and so commonly, left behind.
ironhorse_iv
Don't get me wrong, being call porn, doesn't mean, its total trash. What I meant, is the whole movie is basically two people having sex on camera for the purpose of sexual arousal of its viewers. That's all! Yes, the movie sex scenes isn't that graphic, and it's mostly full of heavy nudity petting and griding, but it's still mostly visually porn-like. If anybody say, it isn't; then, they don't know, anything about sex or relationships! Directed by Julio Medem, this low budget foreign movie tells the story of two women; a young Russian woman only known as Natasha (Natasha Yarovenko) & a Spanish woman, Alba (Elena Anaya) spending time with each other, on holiday in Rome. Both women become very intimately with each other in a hotel room, over the course of the night, only to have the break of day threatens to break their newly forged bond. Without spoiling the movie, too much, I found this so call romantic drama movie to be reeking of stereotypic male porn fantasies in the way, this film is market. It's weird that the filmmakers, felt like the only way, to get lesbians, to watch this film, is by having nude two attractive supermodels, lied near each other for every trailer, poster and DVD cover. If anything, I would think, this marketing ploy would turn most of them off, because how explicit, the fan service is. I'm not saying, sex doesn't sell, but maybe, if you want your film to be taken seriously as an art-film, maybe tone, the nudity down, a bit. After all, it's better off, to focus on the love-story, than the love-making. Films similar to this film, like 2013's Blue Is the Warmest Color & 2015's Carol were able to do better, because, it didn't allow their graphic sex scenes to the main focus of the film. Don't get me wrong, the movie does attempt to be somewhat sophisticated with its story with its dialogue, however, I don't think, work, since the actresses are mostly, speaking these expositions in the buff. The nudity has always been a bit distracting. Another problem with the talking scenes is how the dialogue, comes off, as pretentious, artificial and hokey. I really found the scenes where the girls, are describing the art in their room to be, somewhat goofy and out of touch of reality. There is just way too much, bad melodramatic harlequin novel in those scenes. It's all drivel full of bad metaphors and sentences that don't connect. Who honestly talks like that!? I also didn't like, tell do-not show, style of the filmmaking here. I know the movie is low budget, so, they had to talk about it, than showing it, but a lot of scenes could had work better, if they show the characters backstory, rather than telling us, through an excessive product placement scene like the Microsoft Bing, searching. I found those scenes to be kinda weak and shallow, because not only, is Rome as a backdrop, barely use, but we also never truly get to know, anything about them to be for sure of. After all, for a film about two women falling in love with each other, these two women really do love lying to each other about their backstory. The internet is known for its anonymous, so for the women to use it, to describe their lives, is somewhat questionable. I know the movie wants us to decide on their veracity, but gees, I really don't find, their relationship working at all, if they willing to do that, during the course of one-night. I really don't believe in anything, these liars, are saying to each other. It really made the love-story, so much more, unrealistic. I really hate most of this façade that the movie is forcing down on us, as if they truly love each other. That's BS. Another problem with the actresses is how English is major language spoken in this film, and it's clear, by their delivering, that English is a second language to them. Their Russian & Spanish accents, not only makes it, hard to hear, what they were saying, but it also, makes their pronouncing of certain English words, a little cringe-worthy. It's also a very poor translation with repetitive keys words, being said, multiply times, in an endless loop. We get it, movie, you're in a 'room in Rome'! You don't need to repeat the title, that many times, throughout this film! Another problem with the film is how bad, the lip syncing, is. You really can tell, that voices had to be redone, time after time, overs. I was also a bit disappointed by the lack of subtitles, after all, five different languages are spoken over the course of the film. English, Russian, Spanish, Italian, and Basque, but not all versions of the film have subtitles to translate these different languages. One last thing, I didn't like about the film is the music. While, the song 'Loving Strangers' by Russian Reds, sounds alright for the first time, it was played in the film. I really didn't like, how it was repeat, time after time, again, throughout the film. It really got annoying with its melodramatic repetitive lyrics, coming out of nowhere and adding nothing to the scenes, it's being played in. Overall: Room in Rome is very disappointing, not only as a love story, but also an erotica. Go see 2013's Blue Is the Warmest Color, instead.
