›› Stare Fuori - Left Out ‹‹ a film by Fabiomassimo Lozzi. 2008 | 91 mins | Italy. a stunningly surreal take on obsessive love and loss. Dave says: From the creative mind of noted Italian writer and director Fabiomassimo Lozzi comes this stunningly surreal take on obsessive love and loss. For this is the story of Giulio (Ivo Micioni); a handsome young man from Sicily who arrives in Rome to study, staying seemingly rent free with close friend of the family Rosalia (Guia Jelo). Working as a seamstress from her trans-gendered clientele and still consumed by grief over the death of her son years earlier, Rosalia's life is set to take on a whole new meaning when Giulio's presence comes to fill the emptiness in her heart, much to the relief of her husband Eugenio (Federico Pacifici). Only Giulio is not what he appears to be. An aspiring writer by nature with a novel in the making, his student days are but a cover for his incessant search for his long lost love Aurora (Nausicaa Benedettini). As his quest for her proves futile, Giulio's life takes on the form of a downward spiral of the drink 'n' drugs variety, fuelled by his endless night time visits to clubs. That is until he catches sight of Aurora; a chance encounter that's set to have dramatic repercussions for one and all. Based on a true story of the tragic end to a love affair, here Lozzi has created a highly engaging work delivered two tale fashion, in that and in many ways this is the story of a woman forever haunted by memories of her son's death, a role that finds Jelo vividly depicting the emotions of a mother who cannot help herself from becoming increasingly infatuated with her lodger - surrogate son fashion; that is until Giulio's all-consuming love for Aurora takes centre stage. And here Micioni delivers an achingly real portrayal of a man torn apart by guilt and self-denial. To that end, both actors dig deep into their acting reserves to convey the intense suffering of their characters, with Pacifici equally splendid as the husband left to deal with the reality of the cost of love. True, this is not a gay film; per se. But in a feature in which Giulio's relationship with Nausicaa Benedettini as the angelic like Aurora is critical to the story, Lozzi in his now trademark mix of stylised and dreamlike imagery, presents a work laced with a series of overtly gay subplots, as feelings of repressed homosexuality, coupled with an all too undeveloped, if sweet and tender bond between Giulio and Alessandro Riceci as 'the look of love' publisher Gabriele of the piece, are intercut with scenes of Go-Go Dancers, let alone Micioni's willingness to do the full monty; Italian style. Well-played, shot and directed throughout and complete with a set of family background sequences that poignantly showcase the fear of abandonment, the result is an engrossing variant of the classic ill-fated lovers scenario, backed by a captivating score and a melodramatic twist in the tale styled ending. Beautifully executed, if ultimately quite sad. ›› revised: Saturday, 18th June, 2022. Gay Visibility - covert | Nudity - the full monty | Overall - file under ... 4 stars ›› copyright © 2022 David Hall - www.gaycelluloid.com ‹‹ ›› archive reference #435 - revised ‹‹ donations are the lifeblood of Gay Celluloid; every drop helps keep it online - thank you :)