Respiro [2003]

'Respiro' won three awards at the 2002 Cannes film festival and it is not hard to see why. The film is beautifully shot and the actors are perfect because they are incredibly real. There is little dialogue and this is appropriate because visually 'Respiro' is a true delight and this allows for the viewer to become completely absorbed by the landscape and pace of the film without having to concentrate too hard. The film is fascinating and intriguing. Above all we want to know what lies behind the hauntingly beautiful Grazia and her faraway eyes, as transparent as the ocean itself.


An aesthetically beautiful and atmospheric film   March 7, 2005
James Quirk
55 out of 56 found this review helpful

Emanuele Crialese's 2002 film Respiro, meaning "Breath", is a slow-paced, visually stunning film shot entirely on location in Lampedusa, a dust-blown island off the western coast of Sicily. Valeria Golino plays Grazia, a vivacious young mother of three who does not conform to the social constraints placed on her in a small fishing community, where the way of life has been ingrained and unchanged for centuries. Here, husbands go to sea and wives work packing fish while their children play amongst the cliffs. Grazia's unconventional and free-spirited attitude to life causes concern amongst her elders, and the community decides that she should go to Milan to seek medical attention.

Golino is the only professional in the cast, which is otherwise made up of local islanders. Usually confined to support roles in Hollywood, such as in Rain Man and Frida, she responds magnificently to having the lead, conveying Grazia's spontaneity and close relationship with her daughter and two sons with vibrance and subtlety. She is admirably supported by Vincenzo Amato, in real life a sculptor, as her fisherman husband, who brings a gentle strength to the role. Francesco Casisa, who plays her 14 year old son Pasquale, steals many of his scenes with a brooding combination of tenderness and brutality.

Winner of three awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Respiro draws great strength from Crialese's realist depiction of family and community life, but the final scene raises it to another plane with an almost mythical sequence. Crialese's use of symbolism is subtle and effective, with recurrent images of animals trapped by humans that perfectly mirror the social restraints put on Grazia's behaviour. There is some great cinematography, with the scenes shot underwater the most stunning of the film. Backed up by John Surman's mesmerizing saxophone score, it is an aesthetically beautiful and atmospheric film.


Don't be fooled   May 16, 2008
Ray (Wiltshire, England)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

The people in Cannes must haved owed somebody, there is no other reason to rate this film. Golino is the only professional actress in the film and she is not that good. The rest of the cast are and look amateur. Some of the acting is apalling. The scenery is not that wonderful and every scene has some detritus of slum dwelling in it. The ending like the rest of the film is muddled and unsatisfactory. Save your money - you have been warned.


Just...awful   June 10, 2008
Celest1al (Glasgow)
One star for the scenery, and that's being generous. On paper, this ticks all the right boxes for my taste in film - quirky, subtitled and unusual. Unfortunately, this amounted to absolutely nothing in this film. Really disappointing. I'd attempt to analyse the story, if only there was one.