Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23917 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-01-26
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: Italian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Special Features
1.77:1 anamorphic
Dolby 2.0 stereo; Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround; DTS 5.1 Surround
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English
4-page booklet with Nick Bradshaw Film Notes
Original theatrical trailer; World Cinema trailer reel.

Synopsis
Set on the gorgeous island of Lampedusa just off the coast of western Sicily, RESPIRO tells the tale of Grazia (a brilliant Valeria Golino), a wife and mother whose unpredictable antics make her the talk of the island. Nonetheless, her family--husband Pietro (Vincenzo Amato), daughter Marinella (Veronica D'Agostino), sons Pasquale (Francesco Casisa) and Filippo (Filippo Pucillo)--love her dearly. After Grazia commits several increasingly wreckless acts, the townspeople convince Pietro to send her to a mental institution. Determined to remain on the island, close to her family, Grazia enlists the aid of Pasquale, who sets her up in a nearby cave. After searching for days, Pietro discovers her sun dress lying on the sand, and the island mourns her death. But after Pietro swims into the sea to plant a statue of the Virgin Mary, his prayers for her return are somehow answered. Based on an ancient Lampedusa legend, RESPIRO sets a mood that is at once realistic and fantastical, which reflects the energy of the island itself. Playing the passionate, fiery, and loving Grazia, Golino shows why she is one of cinema's most electrifying actresses.

From the Back Cover
A close-knit community in the south-west of Sicily has been unchanged for centuries. Here, husbands go to sea and wives work packing fish while their children play amongst the cliffs. It's a way of life that is ingrained and which does not allow for change.

Grazia, the wife of one of the local fishermen and mother to his three children, is easy going, affectionate and free-spirited. But her unconventional attitude to life causes consternation amongst her elders, and brings scorn from her peers. Soon the community decides that she is in need of expert medical attention and they attempt to send her away to the city.

A powerful and moving look at the strength of family ties and the difficulties of community life, Respiro features stunning photography and locations that will take your breath away.

Customer Reviews

Just...awful
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.

Don't be fooled
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.

An aesthetically beautiful and atmospheric film
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.