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Twice Born
	Starring: Penélope Cruz, Emile Hirsch, Adnan Haskovic, Pietro Castellitto
	Director: Sergio Castellitto
	Category: III (English, Italian and Bosnian)
	Rating: 1.5/5
 
Twenty-two years ago, an 18-year-old Penélope Cruz made a memorable feature film debut in Jamón, Jamón, in which she appeared topless.
Two decades on, the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar appears naked from the top up again in  Twice Born. In this romantic drama, Cruz portrays Gemma, the wife of an Italian military police officer (played by director-scriptwriter Sergio Castellitto) who falls in love with American photographer Diego (Emile Hirsch).
This is Cruz's second film directed by Castellitto, following 2004's Don't Move. It was adapted from a novel by Castellitto's Irish-born actress-writer wife, Margaret Mazzantini.
Viewers should bear in mind that a harrowing gang rape scene may make this melodramatic film unpalatable.
Although the opening scene is set in Italy, most of the film takes place in Sarajevo, before, during, and after its 1992 to 1995 siege.
A young graduate when she first visited the Balkan city, the now middle-aged Gemma is reluctantly accompanied on her latest trip by her son, Pietro (Pietro Castellitto, the real-life son of Castellitto and Mazzantini).
Back to see an exhibition of photographs by her old flame Diego, she's met at the airport by a mutual friend Gojco (Adnan Haskovic). An eventful trip down memory lane ensues, during which it's revealed how Gemma and Diego met and parted.
Saddled with a demanding but relatively unsympathetic role, Cruz still manages to command the screen, but displays little chemistry with her love interests, particularly Hirsch, whose aggressive and immature character is unattractive.
Even more perplexing is why Cruz's character is presented as the story's emotional centre, when it's another woman - who appears late in the film - who figures more prominently in its most emotionally charged scenes.
So many heartrending revelations come in the third act, you have to ask why the build-up was so mundane.
Still, the best is saved for last: it's only at the tail end of the movie that the viewer is treated to visually sumptuous shots of places that are so idyllic it seems like they exist in a dream.
These moments thoroughly befit the peace-loving residents of Sarajevo who warmly welcome Gemma and Diego.
yvonne.teh@scmp.com
 
Twice Born opens on February 13.
 


Film review: the siege of Sarajevo meets romantic comedy in Twice Born

Penélope Cruz and Emile Hirsch.

Magazines

48 Hours

Film review: the siege of Sarajevo meets romantic comedy in Twice Born

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Yvonne Teh

Yvonne Teh