Respiro
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Movie Reviews of Respiro
Movie Review: Small is Beautiful
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fine evocation of small town tensions and family dynamics with, from my non-Scicilian perception, a resonant truth to it. The most positive reviewers have laid out the scenario, the location shots, and acting qualities with aplomb. So no need to recapitulate. I've only seen Golino a few times, but this is a role that could have been conceived with her in mind. The ramifications of her undiagnosed highs and lows drive the narrative. There is some consensual component undeveloped in her character, a missing chink that renders her, if not savant, then caopable of placing her own interests above any one else's. The teenage daughter is more'adult' than her mother, and the sons and husband are alternatively seduced by her charms, annoyed by her eccentric irresponsibility, and anxious about her vulnerablity. She's a portrait of the puer personality. The machismo and protectiveness of the male actors is pure Scicilian( from my experience in these parts)and poignantly, engagingly communicated. The youngest boy delivers a memorably haranguing speech when interceeding in a blooming affair between his older sister and a raw police recruit, freshly assigned to the island; pure Scicilian! Elsewhere a reviewer mentions the film's poetic symbolic structure. Unless the viewer enters into this dimension, much of the tale will remain opaque. And, in this poetic thrall, I heartily agree with comments about the brilliant underwater concluding shot. Reborn as a goddess the community can accept her in a way that no Milanese therapist could explain.Excellent movie!Movie Review: A
Summary: 4 Stars
I feel in love with this movie maybe b/c I have visited this island where it was shot, but this movie is a comedy yet also a drama. The only part of the movie that I did not enjoy was the ending.Movie Review: Good, despite deception in the marketing of this film
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoyed my actually viewing of 'Respiro' - especially director Emanuele Crialese's stunning underwater photography (most notably in one of the most unique and mystical endings ever filmed) and in seeing that someone finally figured out how to make use of Valeria Golino's quirky beauty. US audiences will recall her from her appearance 17 (!!) years ago as a 22-year-old stunner in 'Rainman.'
What I didn't like about 'Respiro' was the US marketing of this film and need to deceive renters/buyers. First, there's the tagline used stateside: "As unique as the paradise she lived in." Ummm, no. Crialese's Lampedusa is hardly one depicted as paradise. We see its working-class residents struggling to scratch out a living, and are given the feeling of an island so disconnected from mainland Italy so as to lag and suffer behind the times.
Next, we get a cover image of a smiling Galino and on-screen husband Pietro (as played by Vincenzo Amato). While there's no doubt that Pietro deeply loves his wife, this sunny scene between the two never comes close to reflecting the on-screen relationship. Pietro falls into the category of "long-suffering" with a wife who is almost certainly an undiagnosed manic-depressive (Galino's mother-in-law complains of 'highs that are too high and lows that are too low').
Third, there's the blurb on the back of the box that says "some even say she is crazy, but her youngest son is the only one who knows the truth." Well, they're not even paying attention here: Galino's protector is her *oldest* son, Pasquale. And, far from knowing the truth about his mother, he is simply out to shield her from the withering chatter of the town's residents, who quite literally have driven her from the town.
I'll encourage those of you who have seen and appreciated "Respiro" to try the recent "I'm Not Scared," which - much like 'Respiro' - depicts the often-suffocating pressure of raising a family in a small, distant town.
Movie Review: boys running semi-naked
Summary: 3 Stars
A film of boy-gangs hanging around warm Italian sea and making fun of making each other naked running home while special young mother of two young teens struggled with reality.
It is a sort of romantic family movie for rather adults.
Movie Review: But I did enjoy it...
Summary: 3 Stars
Very nicely done. Beautiful scenery. Outstanding acting (especially by the children). The storyline just left me a little "wanting". Didn't feel compelled to watch it again. But you may feel differently.