30 Days (1999)

What If?
Days asks the question repeatedly and in the end doesn't do what some films like it have done. There is no happy ending, no riding off into the sunset, in short there are no pat answers. Much like life.

The film lays before you the life of a man who is HIV infected who has been strict with himself when it comes to his treatment. Then along comes someone with a free and open spirit who takes life as it comes, even if it means getting infected. It's not the result he's interested in so much as the journey.

Days doesn't ask you to like the decsions or even agree, it just asks you to watch. It effected everyone who sees it in different ways for different reasons.

Good movie with weak plot
Days is nicely produced and acted but diminished by its plot. It takes an unusual twist on a somewhat familiar storyline, which is admirable. Unfortunately, the film fails to explore the motivations behind its characters. Also, it doesn't sufficiently connect the protagonist (Claudio) with the other characters--too much about their relationships is left unexplored. This film is worth viewing; just expect to think that it's beginning as the credits start to roll.

The "Eyes" Have It..............
Plot/storyline have been much discussed in earlier reviews here. And, yes, this is a film about "living with Aids," how it can in some ways "robotize" one's behavior, cut one off and harden one in his/her interactions with others.....and Trabacchi (as Claudio) is excellent in showing us every facet of such a "throwaway" man (for in the end he does just that). However, I am more interested in another of the players.........the one who shoves in our faces the purity and certainty of simple love: Salerno (as Andrea). He gives such a pure performance that we come face to face with a love so strong that it overpowers any thought of self-danger.......so strong that it overpowers wisdom and any sense of self-preservation.

Practically every other review and comment seems to focus on Trabacchi, yet never in memory have I encountered a male performer who can telegraph the emotion of love more intensely than Salerno; his eyes seem to be that proverbial door to the soul. Repeating, never have I seen pure love transmitted more powerfully than through this man's eyes and facial expressions (would that many of us ever have been able to have had a love such as his). What he is feeling is projected so strongly that your need is to reach through the screen, grab, and tightly hold him.

I guess I will never be able to understand Italian directors, producers and viewers......for Salerno's film work after this production seems to be nonexistent. How can that be? Yet Trabacchi's follow-on films are numerous, but while his performance is excellent, he displays nowhere near the emotional power radiated by Salerno (should someone admit to a "crush" in here, somewhere?).

So, if you want to see a film about a man none will consider smart, yet a man who would give you unflinching love that you would never doubt, then see "Days." And see the love that Claudio handled disastrously............how would you?