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David's Birthday

Original title: Il compleanno
  • 2009
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 46m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
Massimo Poggio and Thyago Alves in David's Birthday (2009)
DramaMysteryRomance

Two couples are enjoying their summer at the beach, but when the grown son of one couple arrives, it surprisingly stirs something in the husband of the other couple, will the forbidden feeli... Read allTwo couples are enjoying their summer at the beach, but when the grown son of one couple arrives, it surprisingly stirs something in the husband of the other couple, will the forbidden feelings end badly?Two couples are enjoying their summer at the beach, but when the grown son of one couple arrives, it surprisingly stirs something in the husband of the other couple, will the forbidden feelings end badly?

  • Director
    • Marco Filiberti
  • Writers
    • Davide De Bona
    • Marco Filiberti
    • Deborah Belford de Furia
  • Stars
    • Alessandro Gassmann
    • Maria de Medeiros
    • Massimo Poggio
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    2.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Marco Filiberti
    • Writers
      • Davide De Bona
      • Marco Filiberti
      • Deborah Belford de Furia
    • Stars
      • Alessandro Gassmann
      • Maria de Medeiros
      • Massimo Poggio
    • 16User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Photos21

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    Top cast27

    Edit
    Alessandro Gassmann
    Alessandro Gassmann
    • Diego
    • (as Alessandro Gassman)
    Maria de Medeiros
    Maria de Medeiros
    • Francesca
    Massimo Poggio
    Massimo Poggio
    • Matteo
    Michela Cescon
    Michela Cescon
    • Shary
    Christo Jivkov
    Christo Jivkov
    • Leonard
    Piera Degli Esposti
    Piera Degli Esposti
    • Giuliana
    Thyago Alves
    • David
    Eleonora Mazzoni
    • Flaminia
    Paolo Giovannucci
    Paolo Giovannucci
    • Massimo
    Maria Luisa De Crescenzo
    • Aurora
    Federica Sbrenna
    • Vanessa
    Marianna De Rossi
    • Chicca
    Daniele De Angelis
    • Orazio
    Marco Roscini
    • Lucio
    Marco Casu
    • Fabio
    Antimo Verrone
    • Giogiò
    Pilar Saavedra Perrotta
    Pilar Saavedra Perrotta
    • Isabelle
    • (as Pilar Saavedra)
    Karen Ciaurro
    • Elena
    • Director
      • Marco Filiberti
    • Writers
      • Davide De Bona
      • Marco Filiberti
      • Deborah Belford de Furia
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews16

    6.62.6K
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    Featured reviews

    3steven-222

    Long and Limp

    This is an overlong Italian soap opera about two fortyish married couples sharing a beautiful beach home for the summer; when the long-absent 18-year-old son of husband #1 shows up, husband #2 falls hard. All sorts of complications might arise, but the film just flounders around for almost two hours, until it finally ends in (you guessed it!) tragedy. (All those shots emphasizing husband #1's wedding ring were a dead giveaway that this would end in tears.) There's some nice scenery, a little eye-candy, and lots of talking and eating and strolling on the beach. This movie offers a long, slow haul to a limp, contrived finish.
    jm10701

    Worth seeing only for Massimo Poggio's great performance

    I am somewhere between liking and disliking this movie, so I am giving it five stars. What I like is the lovely performance by Massimo Poggio as Matteo; if the rest if the movie had been on his level it would have gotten an easy eight stars. But it was as if he was working all alone in an otherwise uniformly mediocre undertaking.

    The story, the dialog, the pacing and all the other performances are more like a soap opera than any other movie I can think of, with overblown emotions, preposterous developments, a lot of yelling and crying, and almost continual minor crises of one kind or another - even convenient interruptions for commercial breaks (what another reviewer brilliantly described as fadeaways).

    I am a gay man, but I did not find Thyago Alves attractive at all, so the fact that Massimo Poggio made his obsession with the boy totally credible is part of his achievement. His is a stunning, subtle, restrained, and deeply moving performance. So I can recommend this movie highly for his work, but not for anything else.
    5ohlabtechguy

    Over the top Italian melodrama!!!!

    Movie opens with a melodramatic opera scene and the ending of the movie finishes likewise. So over the top that the tragedy at the end seemed too contrived and unrealistic. The sex the married Italian had with the tempting young man was made to seem like the worst thing possible and the guilt trip over what accidentally happened at the end would last a lifetime. Oh come on...give me a break. Total overreaction....totally unreal drama!!! Not interesting and not sexy.
    Kirpianuscus

    a summer story

    I saw it as a sort of ladder . First - the cast - especcialy Maria de Madeiros and Massimo Poggio. Second - the opera show, as seed of the dramatic story, and, not the last, the summer house and the friendship portrait. A love story, forbidden, ambiguous and the development of story used by many films, maybe too many, from same gene. But its beauty remains obvious. A bitter story of desire, the character discovering the truth behind apparences, the consequence who, in some measure, you expect it. Touch of soap opera ? If you know the feelings of Matteo , you see this accusation as silly. But,maybe, for majority, it is present but far to be definitory and it can be perceived only as try to give to story some dramatic flavors . Short, a beautiful film. And this real counts.
    8Farside31

    Not Overly Long and Definitely Not Limp

    As you watch this film, you'll find yourself wanting to scream, "Don't do it. Stop! Stop!," that is, if you have ever betrayed the best that you have for something that you should not obtain. The acting is excellent, and believe me, after having watched more than my fair share of French films, this Italian creation is an action film in comparison. A malevolent, mythological undertone, the antithesis of those mystical experiences found in Italy by E. M. Forester's Brits on vacation, lurks just below the surface as the story lurches toward what did not have to be inevitable. If you watch closely and listen intently, David's Birthday says much about betrayal and unrequited love.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Film debut of Thyago Alves.
    • Connections
      References Damage (1992)

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    FAQ14

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 28, 2010 (Italy)
    • Country of origin
      • Italy
    • Languages
      • Italian
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Дејвидов рођендан
    • Filming locations
      • Sabaudia, Latina, Lazio, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Zen Zero
      • Ateliers d'Ecriture EVIAN EQUINOXE 2007
      • Marche Film Commission
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 46m(106 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.78 : 1

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