Respiro

Set in the unbelievable beautiful island of Lampedusa in the south of Sicily this Emanuele Crialese movie tells the story of Grazia a free-spirited woman in a very traditional village that wants to do things differently to other women. The story is told through the eyes of her oldest son, Pasquale which adds to the story a fresh touch of innocence. This is family story that goes from nicely portraits of everyday life in the island to magic realism at the end. By the way, the story written by Crialese is based in a Lampedusa local legend and is the same story but with a different ending.

Very nice looking cast lead by sensual Valeria Golino (Grazia) that performs so well that steals the movie, is her movie and for this role won awards and many nominations. All the characters are so well-performed that is amazing that most of the cast are non-professionals.

Has an outstanding cinematography so good that bursts with pulsating vitality and sensual appreciation of nature and you almost feel the sun and salty air. This is a very serene and peaceful movie, but has its moments of little violence among the kid’s gangs and if you like dogs, I strongly suggest you avoid this movie.

The movie won 9 awards including the Critics Week Grand Prize and the Young Critics Award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and had many nominations in European Awards and festivals.

I recommend this movie to those that like European movies with simple stories, great performances and a very good director.