The resplendent Giovanna Mezzogiorno is Sabina, a voice-over actress who has long since given up on her dream of becoming a real actress.  She lives with Franco, played with vigor by the rugged Alessio Boni.  Franco also had dreams of acting in meaningful roles on film and on stage.  Instead, he has resigned himself to doing a lame television show.

The couple live quietly, seemingly unsure of their seriousness for one another, slightly unsure about each other's fidelity.  But they still have passion and hopes that this may be the relationship that will last for the rest of their lives.

With the Christmas season approaching, Sabina experiences a mystifying and terrifying dream that shakes her to her core.  She knows something is wrong.  She suspects there may be more to it than just a nightmare.

In desperate need of trusted family, she flies to America to see her brother Daniele, a college professor now living and working in Charlottesville.  Married with two children, he has done well for himself, but carries the burden of a tragic secret.  It is with this sibling reunion that we begin to unearth the beast at the heart of this film.

The film brilliantly juxtaposes two sub-plots to the main thread, a love story between Sabina's two best girlfriends, Emilia and Maria, played superbly by Stefania Rocca and Angela Finocchiaro, and the flirtatious relationship between Franco and one of his co-stars on the television show.  Each story is given enough time to matter to an audience.  They are not merely time fillers.

The crux of this film lays within the relationship and familial history of Sabina and Daniele, who share a chilling past and have dealt with it in complex ways.  Sabina has closed her memory to the past, only experiencing it in that recent dream.  Daniele has never forgotten.  He has been in therapy.  He is unable to hug his own children.  He is virtually paralyzed, keeping everyone at arm's length.

What the two share when they finally confront one another about the past is at once heartbreaking, chilling, tragic, touching and a beginning.  It is a beginning on the path to healing and new hope... A hope that life does go on after irreparable pain and suffering.

Anyone with compassion for children and victims of this type of emotional pain will literally weep for these characters.  Giovanna Mezzogiorno is officially my favorite actress working today.  I've only seen her in three films.  Each of them merits the full four star rating.  Each of them make my Top Ten List for that particular year.  And in all three of them, Mezzogiorno is the emotional engine to a complex and powerful story.  She is Meryl Streep at the height of her talent.  If she were American, she would be one of the most acclaimed actresses of our time.

What Mezzogiorno does here is create a character so hurt, so vulnerable, so damaged that it seems impossible to repair.  Her journey from denial to fear to horror to numbness to healing to hope is an exhausting one.  But it is one of the most rewarding character arcs in recent memory.  Her still moments carry as much emotion as the eruptive ones.  Her ability to think on camera is beyond any of her piers.  Those thoughts show through and resonate with the viewer.  If you haven't discovered this actress yet... Make an immediate effort to do so!  I guarantee you will find a new face to follow.

The director, Cristina Comencini, helms this very personal story with a delicate touch.  You can tell this film was directed by a woman... And I mean that as a compliment.  It is patient and sympathetic, gentle and compassionate.

The screenplay is also worthy of praise.  Not only does it peel away the story layer by layer, never giving the audience all the information at once, but it captures all the truth and poignancy of this situation.

I've tried not to give away too many secrets about this film, although I am sure you can decipher the root of this pain.  And it is with that mystery in mind that I carefully describe to you a scene toward the end of the film...

The catharsis emerges with a quite literal washing away of the past.  The scene in question doesn't erase the pain, but trumps it.  New hope, new life, new love, new resolve... all of those things matter more than the past.  A film with those ideas can be inspirational and uplifting.  "La Bestia nel Cuore" (aka Don't Tell) is the best foreign language film of the year and ranks as one of the ten best from 2005.

Note: This film gets a limited release in NY/LA on March 17th and will expand to some of the major markets sometime thereafter.  The rest of you will have to wait for DVD.  If you want to see it ASAP, www.dvd.it has it for sale and will ship internationally for those who can play European region DVD's.  English subtitles are available on the Italian DVD.