Respiro

This is really and simply a wonderful film. I saw it by accident, so it took me by surprise. The film is like other (very good) Italian films in that it features a simple story, wonderful characters, lots of 'couleur locale', and very good actors. And then add some very nice shots and a superb location.

If I was reading this, I would start to fear for a film that gets lost in its niceness and remains too light. But not Respiro (or Lampedusa, after the island it was filmed at). Already in the opening scenes it is made clear that there is a lot of violence and suspense in the air. Not that there is any blood to be seen in this film. There is a lot of fighting between groups of young boys and the adults defend their honor with physical violence, but things never get really mean.

Between the beauty of the island and the harshness of existence on it walks, no, floats, one woman named Grazia. The camera loves her, her sons love her, and even the other islanders love her. But she too different, too non-conforming to be tolerated in the long run.

In an interesting twist, it is not Grazia but her son Pasquale who is the story teller in this film. We see things through his eyes and it is only through him that we get to know his wonderful but mysterious mother. Like the rest of the village, Pasquale is torn between convention and love for her. With him being a 13 (or so) year old in a very traditional family, it is totally believable that we see Pasquale commanding his mother to not swim in the sea in one scene, and adoringly follow her in the next.

And this sums up the film for me: A simple but beautiful story, with an undercurrent of critique or bewilderment at the traditional family style and its low tolerance for being different; a very positive outlook and a love for life, which is shared by all and reflected in the end of the movie; and beautiful and sometimes magical atmosphere which is the most difficult thing ever to create in a movie.

Go see this movie!

PS I you like this movie, consider seeing Blier's "Un, deux, trois, soleil" which is so obscure that I wanted to mention it here.

If you are religious, if you believe in miracles, if you believe that religion has nothing to do with miracles, if you HATE religion, if you are Catholic, if you are Roman Catholic, if you grew up in such a home, if you despise the hypocrisy of it all, you should see this movie. If you are Italian, if you speak Italian, if you are planning to travel to Italy, if you like Italian food, if you are learning Italian, if you even know anyone who is Italian you need to see this movie. If you've been affected by a psychological disorder, if you have a psychological disorder, if you are a psychologist, if you have a psychologist. If you have a mother. If you've seen Big Top Pee-Wee and thought "Gina" was hot. See Respiro.

I saw this movie in a small theatre and could tell who the aforementioned italomaniacs were in the crowd by the eruptions of laughter that would occur before the (occasionally poorly translated) subtitles appeared. The friend I went to see this with was wont to turn to me at choice moments during the film and inquire as to "WHAT IS IT WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" Charming, warm. Absolutely beautiful location. Vibrant characters. Simplistic filming. Multi-faceted story, bringing together a family and a community and managing to tell several stories at once, I can't find anything bad to say about this movie.

The movie gives us a vivid and ruthless description of the odyssey of a rebel housewife, described with passionate and emotional involvement without giving vent to any sort of conceptualism. This touching story has been inspired by the legend of a mysterious woman who disappeared a long time ago in Lampedusa (an island in the sea of Sicily, the southern point of Europe.). Grazia, the catalyst character of the story, a restless married woman of unusual habits, is considered a nut, an irresponsible person who can't participate fully in the life of society, being forced into total imagination. If it hadn't been for an out-of-date husband, maybe she would have turned her beauty to better account.

Unable to stifle her feelings and to bear the heavy burden of age-old customs, she blows a fuse, ready to abandon home, land and property to flee into the unknown. As the intolerant member of an archaic fishermen community whose behavior leaves much to be desired, not tuned to her same emotional wavelength, not contaminated by the standardization of the modern society, she's quite resolved to preserve every traditional values and social structures, without leaving space for human relationships not predetermined by time-honored customs faithfully handed on from father to son. In this forgotten land where the younger brothers strive to safeguard the reputation of their mothers, the alienated Grazia, (played by a touching and wonderful Valeria Golino), generally considered to be either a very wretched woman or, even worse, a lunatic one, is eager to undertake a journey towards the complete fulfillment of her hopes, yearning for the sight of her deep blue sea, complying with her inner desire for emancipation. In her unremitting efforts to achieve ultimate freedom, the same freedom bestowed by her upon the dogs waiting to be slaughtered, she strives to get over her existential dimension of illness, feeling like a fish out of water, with fear in her eyes, eager to feel the warm embrace of the sea, restored to a sort of primitive amniotic fluid and changing her uneasy feelings into unlimited pleasure.

The movie shows us the epos of a picturesque island where even the children's games reflect the savage nature of the surrounding environment. To be considered at the same time the celebration of a land and of rough people stubbornly bound together by a close friendship without any will to open up new horizons, conforming to precise religious rules (Our Lady's statue brought down the sounding-depth), careful not to mistake the will of sound emancipation for the abolition of every moral scruples. Decided not to be corrupted by vices of more developed social strata.

This movie is a good example of showing that it is possible to produce high quality films without spending too much. The scenario is very well written and characters are well chosen. Every single person fits their role very well that I couldn't help thinking that such a village really exists. Especially Grazia and her younger son are acting very well. The younger son is so natural and has great talent. As for the Grazia, she is showing the character of a caring and sometimes crazy mother with her gestures and talks. The landscape in the film makes you feel like going holiday in the Mediterranean. The sea, sky and the landscape are absolutely beautiful. After seeing this film, I have realized that the rural lives by the sea in many countries are similar, the differences are in the languages, but the feelings are same.

In a small Italian fishing village, the community is very close knit and gossip starts easily about anyone who upsets the status quo. So it is that the free-spirited ways of Grazia make her stand out from the other women in the village who are married to the fishermen and keep their children. As she continues to set tongues wagging and frustrating her husband as a result, Pietro starts to think that perhaps the time is right for her to see a specialist to treat her and, if necessary, section her. Getting wind of her fate, Grazia heads off and is taken to a hiding place by her son Pasquale in the rocks above the beach.

Those looking for a plot that is as strong as I have suggested would do well to just watch the final 30 minutes of this film because it is only then that this storyline is brought out. When it does eventually come, it is interesting and it builds on the things that have been done in the first hour in regards subtexts and relationship dynamics but I have to mention the fact that, for many viewers, the first hour does have the potential to drag and seem irrelevant. To some extent I did fall into this camp, because I thought that the subtexts had been well enough developed before the hour mark and that this aspect could have been worked into a story better. However it still manages to set up the downside of small village life – a world where women are seen as lesser (even little brothers boss around older sisters), men are the all and even minor things can spark off gossip and rumours; it is a place that flies in stark contrast to the beautiful scenery and idyllic setting that the director shows us. This presentation does establish the final third well and, although it does need some patience, it does work very well.

It may be used as a contrast with the people but the direction is very impressive in terms of use of scenery and the framing of shots; it is very beautiful at times and it does help to highlight the disparity between the setting and the society. Golino is pretty good in the lead role – pretty and free enough to convince as a character but perhaps a bit too young looking to have had so many kids of such ages; she does look a bit like a movie producer's idea of what an Italian mother of three looks like. Casisa is good but he seems to have brought out a strange semi-sexual chemistry with Golino; if this was deliberate then it I'm not sure why, maybe I was just seeing something that wasn't there. Amato is effective as the husband – he seems to be frustrated not by his wife but by what others see in his wife; in this regard he fits the bill perfectly.

Overall this is an enjoyable film but it is not perfect and viewers should be prepared for the fact that the "plot" comes out almost reluctantly in the final third of the movie. Up till this time we have a thematic exploration of village life that is interesting but does require a bit of forgiving patience because it could easily have been done in less time or interwoven with a tighter story.