Honey (2013)

Like other reviewers have noted, this film explores the subject of euthanasia and under what circumstances it may be perceived as justified. When a person wishes to end their life due to terminal illness, it is something that many can relate to, even if they do not wholly condone the choice to die. When a person suffers from mental illness and wishes to end their life, it tends to be viewed differently, and even at the least reactionary stance, with understandable circumspection. Ultimately though, that is not what i think this movie is about.When the main character (Irene) is confronted with this individual who wants to end his life due to a persistent loss of interest in life and anhedonia rather than illness, it unsettles and catalyzes her deeply. Her experiences with him, and his ultimate choice to end his life, cause her to examine her own sense of living. Perhaps someone else has commented on it, but if they did, I failed to see it--Irene is clearly depressed, to put it simply, and in spite of what she professes about the meaningfulness of her occupation, the way she lives captures an aimlessness, anonymity, and disengagement with life that is called into question through her experiences with this man. Part of why I feel she responds so strongly to his desire to end his life is because it echoes something in herself. The repeated focus on the death of her mother, which led her to assist terminally ill people in ending their lives, coupled with what is presented of her life--as a loner, who, as Carlo implies, appears to have abandoned her own ambitions to live on the sidelines, as a kind of observer--casts Irene's work with the dying as a kind of cop out. This is not to say that there is something wrong with what she is doing or that it isn't valuable, but her motivations in doing it, and in living as she does, seem like one great avoidance of living her own life. It seems like this all goes back to the death of her mother, which she seems not to have ever moved past. At the conclusion of the film, one gets the sense that through her experiences with Carlo, she has found in herself a desire to embrace life. One gets the sense that she has made the choice to live.

(spoilers) I thoroughly enjoyed "Miele" (aka Honey), an Italian gem of a movie on an important subject matter, assisted Suicide. Handled improperly or without touch a filmmaker could botch a movie about such a divisive matter, but the talented actress Valeria Golino in her directorial debut creates an excellent, introspective piece. Central to making this work is her lead actress Jasmine Trinca turning in a complex, soft, but a bit dark character of Irene. Irene is mesmerizing, not so much due to beauty, but more so due to her questioning. This is one of the better movies I've seen this year; Golino wisely decides not to pull some punches. It is beautifully directed and acted. 8/10 and recommended.

I agree completely with the 3 other reviews. I mostly wanted to rave about this actress, Jasmine Trinca. She is really SOMEthing! She is unusually beautiful and elfin, w/ her Audrey Hepburn haircut, but that attribute is never mentioned in the film, and all the attention is on her laser sharp focus on her mission: traveling, procuring,returning and overseeing her Mexican contraband used by terminally ill people in Italy who wish to end their lives. She takes everything VERY seriously, and it is quite something when she finally smiles, near the film's end. I know using 'girl' instead of woman is not PC, but in this case, she looks soooo young (like 17,even though she was actually twice that old !) That, and maybe her naiveté, made me think of her as a girl.The very unusual, complex and never explained relationship that develops w/ the 'grumpy old man' is the crux of the story, and the catalyst for change. For me, the film's ending depicted an act that was a true affirmation of Love, and I felt very satisfied by that.Film endings are rarely this successful. But you do have to figure it all out for yourself, because all the visual clues are there for you, but the dialogue never reveals most of what I picked up from watching it. Honey makes for a great conversation piece, about matters that really mean something in how we live our lives. A completely compelling and engrossing experience.

Jasmine Trinca is Honey, a beautiful young woman enjoying the life of a free spirit, living alone in a beach front apartment in Italy. She seems to be without means but she is in contact with a hospital worker, a friend of hers, who pays her to assist dying patients in their death. She feels she's giving people relief but what she does is illegal.She's handled all the emotional issues until one of her rules is broken and she's suddenly at risk of losing her moral compass. The movie then chronicles her struggle to maintain through her unexpected friendship with one of her older clients, Carlo Cecchi in a wonderful supporting role.The movie is affecting and beautifully shot. The acting is mostly Trinca's responsibility and she carries it off so impressively that I couldn't help thinking how she's somewhat reminiscent of a cross between Keira Knightley and Winona Ryder but better than either. Ultimately what I liked best about this film is that it so convincingly matches or exceeds all other attempts to cover this sensitive topic I'm aware of.