^TM

Respiro

A Film by Emanuele Crialese 

Reviewed by Madelyn Miller

If you like tanned, taut, trim Italian boys bodies, this will be eye candy for you. When the trunks are pulled off several teenage boys who are rough-housing about 15 minutes into the movie, you may think you are in for some excitement.

Actually, it is all downhill from here.

On Lampedusa, an island near western Sicily, rival boy gangs play roughly among seaside cliffs. Husbands go out to sea and wives work in the fish-packing plant. Pleasures are simple and fun is restricted to Saturday nights.  The reality for all who live on Lampedusa is that island life can be as cruel as it is heartwarming, as suffocating as it is charming.  Grazia is the affectionate, young mother of three children--a teenaged girl, Marinella, and two boys, Pasquale and Filippo. Vibrant and full of life, Grazia often sings along to the latest hit by Italian pop star Patti Pravo and enjoys finding ways to amuse herself and her children.  But Grazia, much like the sea surrounding her island, can also be unpredictable and stormy.  Her free-spirited attitude causes talk in the entire village.   Grazia’s husband, Pietro, lovingly stands by her in the face of small town gossip.  But as  Grazia’s  behavior becomes more reckless, even the  powerful shield of her family’s love can’t protect her.  Her husband’s relatives become convinced that she is seriously unstable and decide that she needs medical treatment in Milan.  But Grazia will have no part of this and her son Pasquale finds a way to protect her and the bond that she shares with her family. 

Respiro was inspired by one of Lampedusa legends.  It is the story of a young mother who was looked down upon by the townspeople who thought she was crazy because she behaved outside the rules of their small community.  One day, she disappeared leaving only her clothes on the beach.  As time passed, the community was left feeling guilty for having driven the woman to suicide.  The legend has it that the force of prayers brought her back to life from the sea and she returned to normal life with her family. 

Pray that they don’t make another movie about this.

THE CAST AND CREW

Valeria Golino
Grazia

Born in Naples, Valeria Golina is that rare actress who can manage a film career in two countries:  The U.S. and Italy.  She was recently featured in Mike Figgis’ Hotel, Andreas Pantzis’ Word of Honor (To Tama) and Rodrigo Garcia’s Things You Can Tell Just by Looking At Her.  Golino’s international career took off in 1988 when she starred opposite Tom Cruise in Rain Man; directed by Barry Levinson, Rain Main won 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.  Golino has also appeared in Sean Penn’s The Indian Runner (1991), John Frankenheimer’s The Year Of The Gun (1991) and Jim Abraham’s Hot Shots.  Other starring roles in Italian films include Peter Del Monte’s Controvento, Silvio Soldini’s Le Acarobate, Francesca Archibugi’s L‘Albero Delle Pere  (The Pear Tree/Shooting the Moon) and Francesco Maselli’s Storia d’Amore, for which she won The Best Actress Award the 1986 Venice Film Festival. In the fall of 2002, she will be seen in Julie Taymor’s Frida.

Emanuele Crialese
Writer/Director

The winner of The Critics Week Prize at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival, Respiro is Emanuele Crialese’s second feature film.  Shot entirely on Lampedusa, Respiro marks the first time that Crialese has made a film in his native country.  His first film, Once We Were Strangers  (shot in English in New York City) was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.  Born in Rome in 1965, Crialese is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. 

From The Director

After nine years, in New York and the struggle of making my first film, I dreamed of being isolated for a bit of time.  That’s how I found Lampedusa, a small Italian island southwest of Sicily.  I had the desire to photograph this arid, dusty island, devastated by cement buildings illegally begun but never completed.  I didn’t want to emphasize the beauty of the natural landscape.  The colors of the film are primary colors.  They are the colors of the fishermen’s boats.  Blue, yellow, red.  Unsaturated, faded by the sun, somewhat covered with dust. 

The sea contrasts the devastated countryside of Lampedusa.  The sea is an inexhaustible reservoir of life and prosperity.  Its moods beat the rhythm of time on the island.  The sea is the only untamable lord and master.  I tried to capture the relationship of the characters to the water.  Especially for Grazia, the sea is a place of peace and relief.

I didn’t want to make a realist or naturalist film.  I wanted to maintain a fable or legend-like tone.  I wasn’t interested in faithfully reproducing a social document on the island. I also wasn’t interested in exploiting the folklore of a postcard-like Italian Island.  I wanted a magical realism.  Reality alternating with a dimension of fantasy.  The use of dialogue is contained.  The characters have gestures and expressions that reflect their down-to-earth nature, thoughts and intentions. 

Back to TravelLady Magazine