Saturn in Opposition (2007) – Original title: Saturno contro
When the Circle Tightens, and the Heart Breaks From Within
A group of close friends in Rome share dinners, secrets, and cigarettes – until one day, everything changes. What was once cozy and familiar turns fragile and uncertain. Saturn in Opposition is a tender, quietly devastating story about the strength (and limits) of love and friendship.
“There are moments like this when I feel happy. I don’t know why, but seeing Davide with our friends makes me feel safe.”
Have you ever had a group of friends that knew everything about you? Where dinners turn into rituals, where laughter, swearing, deep talks, and secret tears all fit into the same evening? That’s what this film gives us—a warm, dysfunctional, loving circle of friends in Rome.
There’s Davide, a quiet writer, and his partner Lorenzo. Angelica and Antonio, a couple slowly fraying at the edges. Neval, a Turkish firecracker. Roberta, chaotic and vulnerable. Sergio, aging and silently aching. And Paolo, the new guy still figuring out where he fits.
Then It Happens
in Saturn in Opposition
It’s not a Hollywood twist. It’s real life—when someone you love suddenly disappears from the room and nothing feels safe anymore. When silence replaces small talk. When routine collapses.
Ferzan Özpetek doesn’t spare them. His camera doesn’t judge. It just observes how people break—quietly, from the inside. How love shakes. Marriages crack. Friendships stretch thin. And those cliché phrases like “nothing will ever be the same” suddenly become very real.
This Is Not a Film About Death
This is about surviving the parts of life you never thought you’d face. About how to stay together when everything is falling apart. About how to say “I need you” when pride is glued to your tongue.
“You quit one bad habit by starting another. It’s the law of compensation.”
And here’s the beauty of it—Özpetek, even in sorrow, gives us warmth. Humor. Irony. Characters who make us laugh and ache at the same time. Neval throws out zingers that heal. Roberta is a mess, but your kind of mess. Davide breaks quietly. Sergio carries the weight of years.
Saturn in Opposition – It Gets Under Your Skin
This movie doesn’t end when the credits roll. It lingers. Like the smell of a dinner you once had with people you still miss. It touches you softly, and stays. With a look. A sentence. A sigh.
Saturn in Opposition is not about what happens. It’s about what remains. And who remains—with you—when things fall apart.
