Solitary translator Valeria (Barbora Bobulova) becomes infatuated from afar with similarly solitary Massimo (Andrea Renzi) and spies on him from her apartment across the street. When Massimo leaves for Rome, Valeria impulsively follows him only to discover that he has a girlfriend, law professor Flavia (Brigitte Catillon, MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT) and insinuates herself into the older woman's life in order to get close to Massimo. An art film with thriller elements, THE SPECTATOR is a meditation on the psychological inertia of loneliness (or is it solitude as Valeria's friend claims to admire how she can live without needing anyone else). As Valeria immerses herself in Flavia's and Massimo's troubled relationship (Massimo is just as closed off as Valeria and Flavia can't let go of her late husband's memory), Valeria feels that her own already empty life becoming even more meaningless (as the "spettatrice" of the title, Valeria first spies on Massimo in Turin but even after she has become part of their lives, she is unable to truly engage with either of them and is more comfortable watching or listening to them (as in a sequence where Valeria follows Massimo and Flavia to Viterbo when they go there for a wedding). French actress Catillon (dubbed in Italian by another actress) is fine as the script's most developed character and Bobulova nicely conveys her character's inibility to engage with others. Renzi is also good but the script gives him little to do until late in the film as if it wants to keep us in suspense about his character's true nature. The ending might disappoint viewers constantly waiting for a FATAL ATTRACTION/SINGLE WHITE FEMALE twist in the plot but some viewers might relate to or at least find dramatically satisfying Valeria's admission that she feels neither a desire to sink or to rise above the surface.

Eric Cotenas