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Review: The Unknown Woman (La sconosciuta) (2006)
I enjoyed this movie. It covered a lot of difficult themes such as prostitution and illegal adoptions, but having the story centered around a single person made it easier to comprehend and sympathize with. Spoilers.
Story
Irena escaped a life of sexual slavery. She was a prostitute, and whenever she had children, her pimp, Muffa, would sell the children. Irena had fallen in love with Nello, and wanted to keep the baby but Muffa wouldn't let her. Irena stabbed Muffa and ran away.
Irena tried to track down the daughter she had with Nello. She did everything she could to get a job within a specific apartment, and then with a specific family. She went so far as to giving commission to the apartment attendant, turning down other jobs to increase her availability, and hurting Gina, the former nanny, severely, which forced her into a vegetative state.
Muffa caught up to Irena and threatened her for the money that she had taken. Muffa went so far as to kill Valeria, Thea's adoptive mother, by rigging her car. Muffa planted Irena's belongings at the scene of the crime to frame her. Then Irena led the police to the Adacher's cottage, where she'd accidentally killed and buried Muffa. Around the same time, Gina had also started being able to talk, and likely spoke to the police about how Irena had been cashing money from her bank account.
Irena revealed her entire backstory. It was revealed that the midwife had tricked Irena into believing that her daughter was adopted by the Adacher family, and the DNA tests showed that they were not related, despite their physical similarities (frizzy hair).
Irena still went to jail, presumably for manslaughter and cashing fraudulent cheques. The day she left, Thea, who is now a young woman, came to see her.
This story started in a very creepy and disturbing way. Irena's fixation with the Adacher family was a bit eerie, and from time to time we saw flashbacks of her terrible life as a prostitute and slave.
We also saw Irena do a number of illegal and immoral things, such as copying Gina's keys, tripping Gina down the stairs, etc. But somehow I still found myself sympathizing with Irena.
I found myself content with the ending. Irena was at peace knowing that Muffa was dead and that she could come clean to somebody who would listen to her story. While it was a shock finding out that Thea was not her daughter, she'd still been able to bond with a child. She might never be able to find the nine children she gave birth to, but if she can be a good caretaker to one child, it might make it worth it to keep living.
Production
As I mentioned, the tone of the movie at the beginning was quite creepy, from the flashbacks of rape to the thrilling music.
Irena isn't the best fighter or the slickest thief, but we see her in a number of very intense situations, which kept me invested in the story.
As we learned more and more about Irena's backstory, the movie became more of a drama, and the tone of conversations shifted.
I thought the acting was pretty good for the most part, even for Thea who was kind of bratty at first.
Characters
Irena
Irena has been through some terrible shit. She was a prostitute, which was already a tough life. Muffa would beat the girls and do terrible things to them when they didn't bring enough money. He'd buy them gifts but obviously that doesn't make up for the mistreatment. When the girls started getting pregnant, he took advantage of the situation and sold the babies to illegal adoption.
What made Irena snap was when Muffa took away the baby she had with Nello. Nello was dead, so the child was the only hope she had of remembering their love, or what she thought was their love. I don't know if Nello loved Irena, but it was clear that Irena loved Nello and that was enough.
It probably took a lot of courage for Irena to stab Muffa and run off with the money. She then re-oriented her entire life to revolve around finding her child. It was rough for Irena because she was already shunned as an outsider. Many people mentioned it would be difficult for her to find a job as a foreigner.
It was a huge shock when Muffa popped up because Irena obviously thought she'd killed him. He then started terrorizing everyone in her life to get back at her. He even killed Valeria, who was an innocent party in this debacle, though she hinted that she knew there was someone in the apartment when she went to visit Irena, and Muffa probably didn't want to risk it.
I think it was a huge weight off of Irena's back when she was finally able to reveal everything to her lawyers and the police. I don't think she even cared that she was going to jail. Of course she would've wanted to spend more time with Thea, but she accepted that she had to pay for her crimes.
I think Thea and Irena were probably exchanging letters while she was in jail, and I think we can expect them to develop a close relationship again after Irena's release.
Muffa
Muffa was Irena's pimp who was after the money that she stole from him. We saw in flashbacks that he was extremely cruel.
Even in the current day, he was more violent that he needed to be. It was a huge relief for Irena that he was dead, even if she had to go to jail for it.
Valeria
I think Valeria was a little suspicious of Irena because of small things, such as Irena mentioning that it didn't seem like Valeria had ever been pregnant. But those were still not grounds to fire Irena or to believe she had ill intentions to her family.
Valeria was fully suspicious when she went to Irena's house and saw that there was basically nothing in her house except for a small shrine to her relationship with Thea. I can see how Valeria would immediately be worried that Irena would want to steal her daughter back.
Ultimately, Valeria did not deserve death. Thea was not even Irena's daughter. In addition, she just wanted Irena to back off, and didn't really care about her background (except when it caused danger to the Adacher family).
Gina
Gina was the Adachers' former nanny. She was an unfortunate victim in all of Irena's endeavours. I don't know if Irena knew that Gina was the Adachers' nanny when she first started working at the apartment. When they first met, Valeria had stuck her head out to say something to Gina, so perhaps at that moment, Irena realized that Gina was their nanny.
Afterwards, Irena stole her set of keys to gain access to the apartment while they were out to go to a movie. Matteo had mentioned to Irena that Gina was basically going nowhere because she was so well trusted. Irena, in what I would call an act of cruelty, tripped Irena while she was going down the stairs. I don't know if she just meant to hurt her a little (like sprain an ankle or something), but Gina ended up with a severe head injury, and was in a non-responsive state. Then, Irena used the friendship they'd built up to get an in with the Adacher family.
Irena started to see Gina. At first, we thought that it was just to confess her wrongdoings and to talk about her own life to someone who would listen. However, every visit, Irena would forge Gina's signature on cheques to steal money. Honestly, this was pretty cruel.
Things changed when Gina was able to start talking again, and she asked whey Irena made her sign every time. Though Irena was technically taken by the police for murder, I think that Gina probably said something to the police too.
I could understand Irena protecting herself by killing Muffa, but hurting Gina and defrauding her of money was a pretty terrible thing to do.
Matteo
Matteo was an attendant at the apartment. He was reluctant to introduce Irena to any jobs, until she offered to give him commission, to which he agreed. So we can see that Matteo's a greedy SOB.
He did help Irena when she was severely hurt, and covered for her when she couldn't go to work, so I will give him that. But then we saw that he actually had ulterior motives. He was in love with Irena and made advances on her. Irena had the option of stabbing him with scissors, but she realized that this was not the way to get out of this situation. Matteo was a man who presumed too much, but he wasn't a monster like Muffa, and she just cut off their monetary relationship.
Thea
She was a bit of a brat at first. She got hurt very easily, and was a bit of a spoiled princess. Thea hated Irena at first for bumping into her and causing her to get hurt. Irena sort of used blackmail to get back at Thea (and stop her from getting fired), but somehow it kind of built their trust, because Irena was the first one who didn't fall for Thea's manipulations.
Irena also taught Thea to fight back. She'd get bullied and wouldn't know what to do but to cry. Irena tied Thea up and kept pushing her down. When Irena untied Thea, Thea was really angry, and Irena taught her to use that anger to protect herself.
Throughout the movie, there were ups and downs in their relationship, but by the time Irena had to go to jail, their relationship was still very good. Even though Thea was not her biological daughter, that didn't matter to Irena because she could at least do a good thing for one little girl.
We can assume that Irena and Thea exchanged letters throughout Irena's time in prison, and Thea even came to see Irena when she was released. They smiled at each other, so I think we can assume they'll be alright.
Donato
He was Thea's father. Donato was kind of removed from the family situation, like a typical dad. He went to work, and was only at home long enough to be the "fun dad." He had a bad relationship with his wife, and they often had yelling matches.
While Donato didn't really have a close relationship with Irena, he saw that Irena was really good with Thea. I think that even though Irena had done the terrible things she'd done, Donato appreciated that Irena would never do anything to hurt Thea.
Nello
Nello was Irena's lover, with whom she had her last baby. Nello was a worker at a strawberry farm. I don't know if Nello truly loved Irena, or just treated her like a fling, but it was clear that the kindness and attention he paid to Irena meant a lot to her.
Irena found Nello dead in a dumpster after she fell pregnant. I think he might've been killed by Muffa, to prevent Irena from wanting to run away with him. Nello's coworkers at the strawberry farm thought it was funny to trick Irena about it too.
Years later, Irena still loves Nello, and we saw that she still kept photos of him in her wallet and around her house.
Themes
Prostitution
Irena's flashbacks of her time as a prostitute were rough. The girls were often dropped off in a van at workplaces where there'd be a lot of men. But where things got really violent would be back at Muffa's place, where I suppose high-paying clients would go. We also often saw Muffa and his associates torturing and hurting the girls, and it was so scary to see them screaming and crying for help.
After telling her story, I think that the police sympathized with Irena and acknowledged the terrible conditions she was in, so all parties understood that she'd done what she did out of actual protection, because Muffa had no boundaries when it came to his depravity.
Adoption
When the prostitutes got pregnant, Muffa took advantage of the situation and sold the babies for adoption. The babies never seemed to matter to Irena until she had a baby with Nello that she desperately wanted to keep.
The midwife had "leaked" the name of the adoptive parents and Irena re-oriented her entire life around that. It was revealed that Muffa just made up a name to give to the midwife to give to Irena, which was pretty cruel.
In truth, I think Muffa probably didn't know. These adoptions were probably illegal so it made sense if the buyers didn't want to be identified anyway. For Irena, she didn't really have much in life until she met Nello. It would make sense that she'd concentrate all she had on finding her child, especially since she had never wanted to give up the child.
Valeria was worried that Irena would want to get her child back. Valeria had adoption papers in the safe, so I assume she went through totally legal means to have Thea. But I'd still understand her anxiety. After all, the bond between a birth mother and a child is totally unique.
Parenting
I think Irena was the first of Thea's caretakers to really challenge her. While that caused some bumpy intervals in their relationship, they ultimately had a strong one. Valeria would often just try to pacify Thea and stop her from crying, but that didn't address the problem. Valeria and Donato also got into arguments because Donato didn't think that there was any problems with Thea. I think he didn't see any problem in her getting hurt every so often. Because of this, I think that's why Donato didn't have a problem with Irena's treatment of Thea. He didn't see when Irena taught Thea to protect herself, but I think he could probably see when Thea was a bit sturdier emotionally.
Outsider
Irena was an outsider in many ways. She was an outsider in Italy. She was Ukrainian, and even though she seemed to speak Italian just fine, everybody kept telling her she'd have trouble finding work.
She was also an outsider in the Adacher family. She was the nanny, and would never be allowed to have the relationship with Thea that her legal parents would have.
Irena was also an outsider because of her previous line of work. I think that the police officers and lawyers had never dealth with someone who'd gone through such trauma that she did as a prostitute. They handled the situation gently, but I think it was also because they didn't know what they could do. They were there to solve the crime of a murder, but knowing that Irena had lived such a pained life definitely put things in perspective. The judge had asked that Irena be given one last opportunity to see Thea before she went to jail, and I think that was because law enforcement sympathized with her situation and didn't know how to ease her past trauma, but letting her see the child would give her some closure.
Overall
I think this was a good movie. It was a rough watch, but I think the story was worth it. I would recommend it, but would warn them because of graphic rape and violent scenes.
Story
Irena escaped a life of sexual slavery. She was a prostitute, and whenever she had children, her pimp, Muffa, would sell the children. Irena had fallen in love with Nello, and wanted to keep the baby but Muffa wouldn't let her. Irena stabbed Muffa and ran away.
Irena tried to track down the daughter she had with Nello. She did everything she could to get a job within a specific apartment, and then with a specific family. She went so far as to giving commission to the apartment attendant, turning down other jobs to increase her availability, and hurting Gina, the former nanny, severely, which forced her into a vegetative state.
Muffa caught up to Irena and threatened her for the money that she had taken. Muffa went so far as to kill Valeria, Thea's adoptive mother, by rigging her car. Muffa planted Irena's belongings at the scene of the crime to frame her. Then Irena led the police to the Adacher's cottage, where she'd accidentally killed and buried Muffa. Around the same time, Gina had also started being able to talk, and likely spoke to the police about how Irena had been cashing money from her bank account.
Irena revealed her entire backstory. It was revealed that the midwife had tricked Irena into believing that her daughter was adopted by the Adacher family, and the DNA tests showed that they were not related, despite their physical similarities (frizzy hair).
Irena still went to jail, presumably for manslaughter and cashing fraudulent cheques. The day she left, Thea, who is now a young woman, came to see her.
This story started in a very creepy and disturbing way. Irena's fixation with the Adacher family was a bit eerie, and from time to time we saw flashbacks of her terrible life as a prostitute and slave.
We also saw Irena do a number of illegal and immoral things, such as copying Gina's keys, tripping Gina down the stairs, etc. But somehow I still found myself sympathizing with Irena.
I found myself content with the ending. Irena was at peace knowing that Muffa was dead and that she could come clean to somebody who would listen to her story. While it was a shock finding out that Thea was not her daughter, she'd still been able to bond with a child. She might never be able to find the nine children she gave birth to, but if she can be a good caretaker to one child, it might make it worth it to keep living.
Production
As I mentioned, the tone of the movie at the beginning was quite creepy, from the flashbacks of rape to the thrilling music.
Irena isn't the best fighter or the slickest thief, but we see her in a number of very intense situations, which kept me invested in the story.
As we learned more and more about Irena's backstory, the movie became more of a drama, and the tone of conversations shifted.
I thought the acting was pretty good for the most part, even for Thea who was kind of bratty at first.
Characters
Irena
Irena has been through some terrible shit. She was a prostitute, which was already a tough life. Muffa would beat the girls and do terrible things to them when they didn't bring enough money. He'd buy them gifts but obviously that doesn't make up for the mistreatment. When the girls started getting pregnant, he took advantage of the situation and sold the babies to illegal adoption.
What made Irena snap was when Muffa took away the baby she had with Nello. Nello was dead, so the child was the only hope she had of remembering their love, or what she thought was their love. I don't know if Nello loved Irena, but it was clear that Irena loved Nello and that was enough.
It probably took a lot of courage for Irena to stab Muffa and run off with the money. She then re-oriented her entire life to revolve around finding her child. It was rough for Irena because she was already shunned as an outsider. Many people mentioned it would be difficult for her to find a job as a foreigner.
It was a huge shock when Muffa popped up because Irena obviously thought she'd killed him. He then started terrorizing everyone in her life to get back at her. He even killed Valeria, who was an innocent party in this debacle, though she hinted that she knew there was someone in the apartment when she went to visit Irena, and Muffa probably didn't want to risk it.
I think it was a huge weight off of Irena's back when she was finally able to reveal everything to her lawyers and the police. I don't think she even cared that she was going to jail. Of course she would've wanted to spend more time with Thea, but she accepted that she had to pay for her crimes.
I think Thea and Irena were probably exchanging letters while she was in jail, and I think we can expect them to develop a close relationship again after Irena's release.
Muffa
Muffa was Irena's pimp who was after the money that she stole from him. We saw in flashbacks that he was extremely cruel.
Even in the current day, he was more violent that he needed to be. It was a huge relief for Irena that he was dead, even if she had to go to jail for it.
Valeria
I think Valeria was a little suspicious of Irena because of small things, such as Irena mentioning that it didn't seem like Valeria had ever been pregnant. But those were still not grounds to fire Irena or to believe she had ill intentions to her family.
Valeria was fully suspicious when she went to Irena's house and saw that there was basically nothing in her house except for a small shrine to her relationship with Thea. I can see how Valeria would immediately be worried that Irena would want to steal her daughter back.
Ultimately, Valeria did not deserve death. Thea was not even Irena's daughter. In addition, she just wanted Irena to back off, and didn't really care about her background (except when it caused danger to the Adacher family).
Gina
Gina was the Adachers' former nanny. She was an unfortunate victim in all of Irena's endeavours. I don't know if Irena knew that Gina was the Adachers' nanny when she first started working at the apartment. When they first met, Valeria had stuck her head out to say something to Gina, so perhaps at that moment, Irena realized that Gina was their nanny.
Afterwards, Irena stole her set of keys to gain access to the apartment while they were out to go to a movie. Matteo had mentioned to Irena that Gina was basically going nowhere because she was so well trusted. Irena, in what I would call an act of cruelty, tripped Irena while she was going down the stairs. I don't know if she just meant to hurt her a little (like sprain an ankle or something), but Gina ended up with a severe head injury, and was in a non-responsive state. Then, Irena used the friendship they'd built up to get an in with the Adacher family.
Irena started to see Gina. At first, we thought that it was just to confess her wrongdoings and to talk about her own life to someone who would listen. However, every visit, Irena would forge Gina's signature on cheques to steal money. Honestly, this was pretty cruel.
Things changed when Gina was able to start talking again, and she asked whey Irena made her sign every time. Though Irena was technically taken by the police for murder, I think that Gina probably said something to the police too.
I could understand Irena protecting herself by killing Muffa, but hurting Gina and defrauding her of money was a pretty terrible thing to do.
Matteo
Matteo was an attendant at the apartment. He was reluctant to introduce Irena to any jobs, until she offered to give him commission, to which he agreed. So we can see that Matteo's a greedy SOB.
He did help Irena when she was severely hurt, and covered for her when she couldn't go to work, so I will give him that. But then we saw that he actually had ulterior motives. He was in love with Irena and made advances on her. Irena had the option of stabbing him with scissors, but she realized that this was not the way to get out of this situation. Matteo was a man who presumed too much, but he wasn't a monster like Muffa, and she just cut off their monetary relationship.
Thea
She was a bit of a brat at first. She got hurt very easily, and was a bit of a spoiled princess. Thea hated Irena at first for bumping into her and causing her to get hurt. Irena sort of used blackmail to get back at Thea (and stop her from getting fired), but somehow it kind of built their trust, because Irena was the first one who didn't fall for Thea's manipulations.
Irena also taught Thea to fight back. She'd get bullied and wouldn't know what to do but to cry. Irena tied Thea up and kept pushing her down. When Irena untied Thea, Thea was really angry, and Irena taught her to use that anger to protect herself.
Throughout the movie, there were ups and downs in their relationship, but by the time Irena had to go to jail, their relationship was still very good. Even though Thea was not her biological daughter, that didn't matter to Irena because she could at least do a good thing for one little girl.
We can assume that Irena and Thea exchanged letters throughout Irena's time in prison, and Thea even came to see Irena when she was released. They smiled at each other, so I think we can assume they'll be alright.
Donato
He was Thea's father. Donato was kind of removed from the family situation, like a typical dad. He went to work, and was only at home long enough to be the "fun dad." He had a bad relationship with his wife, and they often had yelling matches.
While Donato didn't really have a close relationship with Irena, he saw that Irena was really good with Thea. I think that even though Irena had done the terrible things she'd done, Donato appreciated that Irena would never do anything to hurt Thea.
Nello
Nello was Irena's lover, with whom she had her last baby. Nello was a worker at a strawberry farm. I don't know if Nello truly loved Irena, or just treated her like a fling, but it was clear that the kindness and attention he paid to Irena meant a lot to her.
Irena found Nello dead in a dumpster after she fell pregnant. I think he might've been killed by Muffa, to prevent Irena from wanting to run away with him. Nello's coworkers at the strawberry farm thought it was funny to trick Irena about it too.
Years later, Irena still loves Nello, and we saw that she still kept photos of him in her wallet and around her house.
Themes
Prostitution
Irena's flashbacks of her time as a prostitute were rough. The girls were often dropped off in a van at workplaces where there'd be a lot of men. But where things got really violent would be back at Muffa's place, where I suppose high-paying clients would go. We also often saw Muffa and his associates torturing and hurting the girls, and it was so scary to see them screaming and crying for help.
After telling her story, I think that the police sympathized with Irena and acknowledged the terrible conditions she was in, so all parties understood that she'd done what she did out of actual protection, because Muffa had no boundaries when it came to his depravity.
Adoption
When the prostitutes got pregnant, Muffa took advantage of the situation and sold the babies for adoption. The babies never seemed to matter to Irena until she had a baby with Nello that she desperately wanted to keep.
The midwife had "leaked" the name of the adoptive parents and Irena re-oriented her entire life around that. It was revealed that Muffa just made up a name to give to the midwife to give to Irena, which was pretty cruel.
In truth, I think Muffa probably didn't know. These adoptions were probably illegal so it made sense if the buyers didn't want to be identified anyway. For Irena, she didn't really have much in life until she met Nello. It would make sense that she'd concentrate all she had on finding her child, especially since she had never wanted to give up the child.
Valeria was worried that Irena would want to get her child back. Valeria had adoption papers in the safe, so I assume she went through totally legal means to have Thea. But I'd still understand her anxiety. After all, the bond between a birth mother and a child is totally unique.
Parenting
I think Irena was the first of Thea's caretakers to really challenge her. While that caused some bumpy intervals in their relationship, they ultimately had a strong one. Valeria would often just try to pacify Thea and stop her from crying, but that didn't address the problem. Valeria and Donato also got into arguments because Donato didn't think that there was any problems with Thea. I think he didn't see any problem in her getting hurt every so often. Because of this, I think that's why Donato didn't have a problem with Irena's treatment of Thea. He didn't see when Irena taught Thea to protect herself, but I think he could probably see when Thea was a bit sturdier emotionally.
Outsider
Irena was an outsider in many ways. She was an outsider in Italy. She was Ukrainian, and even though she seemed to speak Italian just fine, everybody kept telling her she'd have trouble finding work.
She was also an outsider in the Adacher family. She was the nanny, and would never be allowed to have the relationship with Thea that her legal parents would have.
Irena was also an outsider because of her previous line of work. I think that the police officers and lawyers had never dealth with someone who'd gone through such trauma that she did as a prostitute. They handled the situation gently, but I think it was also because they didn't know what they could do. They were there to solve the crime of a murder, but knowing that Irena had lived such a pained life definitely put things in perspective. The judge had asked that Irena be given one last opportunity to see Thea before she went to jail, and I think that was because law enforcement sympathized with her situation and didn't know how to ease her past trauma, but letting her see the child would give her some closure.
Overall
I think this was a good movie. It was a rough watch, but I think the story was worth it. I would recommend it, but would warn them because of graphic rape and violent scenes.