His Secret Life

Antonia, a doctor in Rome, is married to Massimo and believes their life together is a happy one. When he dies in a car accident, she is left devastated, and her grief deepens when she learns he had kept a long-term relationship with another man, Michele, hidden from her. Wanting to understand the husband she thought she knew, she seeks Michele out and is drawn into the circle of friends who share his home, among them people whose lives are far removed from her own. Revealing nothing of where her search leads her, the film follows Antonia as she gradually moves toward a new understanding of Massimo and of herself.

Ferzan Özpetek directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Gianni Romoli, who also produced with Tilde Corsi. It is the second of the thirteen features Özpetek has directed, following Steam: The Turkish Bath and preceding Saturn in Opposition, and it was made in Italy and France. Margherita Buy plays Antonia and Stefano Accorsi plays Michele, with Serra Yılmaz, Gabriel Garko, Erika Blanc and Andrea Renzi among the cast, which numbers twenty-three credited performers.

The film has held up well with viewers since its 2001 release, rating 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb from around eleven thousand votes and the same score on TMDB from roughly six hundred. Its two countries of production and the modest number of votes outside Italy suggest a release that travelled beyond its home market without becoming a large international title.