Directed by: Emanuele Crialese
Released: 2002
Run
time: 91 minutes
Classification PG-13
View trailer on Youtube: click here
A powerful and moving look at the strengths of family ties and the difficulty of community life. Respiro features stunning photography and locations that will take your breath away
Emanuele Crialese’s 2002 film is a slow paced, visually stunning film shot entirely on Lampedusa, an island situated between Sicily and North Africa (now famous for the immigrant boats crossing the Mediterranean trying to get to Europe).
Valeria Golino plays Grazia, a vivacious mother of three, who does not conform to the social constraints placed on her by the small fishing community where life has been unchanged for centuries. Here husbands go to sea and wives work packing fish while their children play among the cliffs. Grazia’s unconventional and free spirited attitude causes concern among her elders.
Golino is the only professional in the cast, which is otherwise made up of local islanders.
Emanuel Crialese was born in Rome in 1965, but pays tribute in film after film to his Sicilian roots.
