neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Respiro
	Emanuele Crialese Valeria Golino, Vincenzo Amato, Francesco Casisa, Veronica D'Agostino, Filippo Pucillo 2002		"Respiro" starts off like a sun-bleached slice of life, set in a fishing village on an island near Sicily. The film quickly takes on a darker hue, examining the way that traditional, patriarchal ways can repress a woman who longs for something more than the tedium and provincial attitudes she encounters in her home town. "Respiro" pivots on the performance of naturally radiant Valeria Golino. Best known in the U.S. as Tom Cruise's girlfriend in "Rain Man," Golino excels in "Respiro" as Grazia, a youthful, free-spirited mother of a teenage girl and two younger boys. Grazia's pattern of reckless, unstable behavior disturbs her family and friends. They decide she needs medical care. Her husband Pietro (Vincenzo Amato) is on her side; ultimately, his frustration with her unpredictable attitudes gets the better of him. Only Grazia's son Pasquale (Francesco Casisa) believes the best about her and tries to shield her from everyone else. Written and directed by Emanuele Crialese, "Respiro" is a woman's picture in the sense that it's about one woman's struggle with her identity and place in the world. But its message of tolerance and liberation cuts across the gender divide.