Sensitive, powerful and touching story of a middle-aged woman, coping with the premature birth. A middle-aged, somewhat footloose teacher becomes pregnant from a short-lived affair, gives birth to a premature baby, and finds her life revolving around her hopes and fears for the tiny child. Margherita Buy – in a towering performance – brings sensititivity, emotional empathy and a sense of genuine bewilderment to her predicament, as she tries to lead a semblance of normal life, existing in the confines of a hospital ward where many women from different backgrounds are in exactly the same situation as her. It is important to stress that this unusual and compelling film, on a subject rarely depicted in modern cinema, is neither unrelentingly gloomy nor depressing. Indeed the film is leavened by lovely scenes of Buy teaching her students Italian in increasingly decrepit surroundings, and by the warmth, humanity and optimism that director Francesca Comencini evinces. Adrian Wootton