Product Details

• Actors: Valeria Golino, Vincenzo Amato, Francesco Casisa, Veronica D'Agostino, Filippo Pucillo
• Directors: Emanuele Crialese
• Writers: Emanuele Crialese
• Producers: Anne-Dominique Toussaint, Domenico Procacci, Raphael Berdugo
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: October 21, 2003
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000C23T0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,600 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Respiro" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A sunny seaside location and the radiant beauty of Valeria Golino are enough to set the mood in Respiro, a fitfully effective Italian film. Hollywood never quite figured out what to do with Golino, but she blossoms in this story about a sensual wife who's either free-spirited or manic-depressive, depending on your perspective. Her fisherman husband (Vincenzo Amato) finally decides to have her sent away for professional help, which only provokes an even more impulsive act from her. Within this story is a pointed critique of male machismo--Italian style. Director Emanuele Crialese veers between the neo-realist tradition and a more Fellini-esque taste for symbolism, never quite settling on one or the other. But the whiff of classic-era Italian film is welcome, and the seasoned, sun-baked presence of La Golino makes this movie compelling even when its point seems obscure. --Robert Horton

Product Description

A sunny seaside location and the radiant beauty of Valeria Golino are enough to set the mood in "Respiro", a fitfully effective Italian film. Hollywood never quite figured out what to do with Golino, but she blossoms in this story about a sensual wife who's either free-spirited or manic-depressive, depending on your perspective. Her fisherman husband (Vincenzo Amato) finally decides to have her sent away for professional help, which only provokes an even more impulsive act from her. Within this story is a pointed critique of male machismo--Italian style. Director Emanuele Crialese veers between the neo-realist tradition and a more Fellini-esque taste for symbolism, never quite settling on one or the other. But the whiff of classic-era Italian film is welcome, and the seasoned, sun-baked presence of La Golino makes this movie compelling even when its point seems obscure. "--Robert Horton"

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Are there still people and places like this? February 19, 2004

By stan smith

Format:DVD

Poking around the internet for reviews of this film the words "inscrutable," "pointless," and "underdeveloped" keep cropping up. Could my taste for film really be that bad? Upon reading the reviews, however, it becomes apparent that most have missed the point of the film.

Respiro is about a fishing village in Lampedusa and probably thousands of other small villages in the world where AN EFFORT TO FEIGN OR SHOW RESPECT (face-saving) goes a hell of a long way.

Pietro is a fisherman who acts like the bad-ass patriarch in public, but is soft as a marshmallow at home. One scene that showed this is when a neighbor demands punishment for Pietro's son's for misconduct, Pietro manhandles the kid then placates the man by asking him to whip the boy. When the man refuses and tells Pietro to discipline the kid himself, a quick and subtle expression hesitation flashes across his face before he belts the boy a few quick ones. This act of deference to the neighbor is immediately accepted with gratitude and almost relief by the plaintiff, and all is settled.

Another humorous scene shows Pietro telling his wife Grazia to take a hike because he is engaged in "man-talk" with a couple of pals. When she leaves we find out the conversation is about Pietro's son winning a train-set at a toy stall.

This sort of phony machismo is also played out in fights the village youth gangs engage in. No one really throws punches but instead everyone rolls around on the ground. This ritualized fighting appears to allow all to let off steam without developing true animosity.

Even the local cops feign machismo by engaging in a not-so-high speed chase of three harmless girls on a Vespa.

Grazia, being manic-depressive, has a hard time with these kind of games and embarrasses others. Not knowing how to deal with her, the village suggest sending her off to an institution to Milan. When the angry Grazia learns of this she hides and is thought to have committed suicide. This elevates her status to that of a saint, and when she is found all are happy not because their "saint" has returned but because all can PRETEND to believe their "saint" has returned--thereby condoning her continued existence in the village.

Respiro is about these kinds of communities where people don't sue or kill each other... What is sought is "Face." This is quite like how dogs relate to each other. Agressive behavior is displayed to elicit submission from the other dog, and as long as everyone follows this rule all is fine. In fact this example shows up in the film where Pietro, who is afraid of the family dog, gets rid of it because he is threatened by it's growls. He feels demeaned because he doesn't command respect from the dog.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Just 'Breathe' in the Joy of this Special Tale November 9, 2004

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

RESPIRO is one of those Italian treasures of a film, this time written and directed by the insightful Emanuele Crialese, that isolates humanity in a place where all the joys and foibles of living become cogently the entire point of the story. RESPIRO mixes the gut-level Italian response to life with the surreal flights of fancy made famous by Fellini.

Lampedusa is a Mediterranean island between Sicily and Tunisia that is baked by the sun and is far enough away form the culture of Italy to be a return to the native. The population is all involved in fishing. On this picturesque island lives Grazia (the beautiful and talented Valeria Golina) who appears to be a wonderfully free spirit but is actually a bipolar personality. She lives happily with her fisherman husband Pietro and her children: teenage Marinella (Veronica D'Agostini), Pasquale (Frncesco Casisa - a very fine little actor!) and Filippo (Filippo Pucillo). The boys adore their mother and their father and often make excuses for their mother's wild behavior patterns to the villagers who view her as a menace.

When Grazia's actions come under scrutiny by Pietro and he considers the advice of the grandmother (Muzzi Loffredo) who occasionally gives Grazia tranquilizing injections when her manic side surfaces and suggests Grazia needs psychiatric help in Milan, Grazia runs away to hide in a grotto, her whereabouts are known only to Pasquale.

The little village mentality merges and the people search the waters for what they feel must be the death of Grazia, only to discover on St Bartolo's Day that Grazia is blithely swimming in the ocean. How this affects the village and the lives of this tender family is the secret of the movie: revealing the ending would dissipate the joy of RESPIRO. Suffice it to say that the closing footage will simply take your breath away!

This little treasure of a movie has some of the most imaginative photography - both above and below the surface of the surrounding ocean - of any film you'll see. The music by John Surman is pitch perfect and atmospheric. The way director Crialese captures the folklore-like behavior of the youngsters' games, and the married-to-the-sea philosophy of the villagers, is utterly magical. This is a movie that celebrates those raw emotions of being human that seem to be eroding into the cultural pablum of contemporary society. RESPIRO is a glowing reminder of the worth of a return to Eden. In Italian with English subtitles. Grady Harp, November 2004

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful movie November 7, 2004

By A. Shavit

Format:DVD

One of the most painfully beautiful movies I have ever seen. This is a sensitive fascinating tale. The scenery is magnificent, the characters are so real unique and funny, the plot takes the right pace and the culture of the fisherman's vilage where it takes place takes you to a faraway journey about love, relationships and growing up. My date for the movie is now my gf. And I almost forgot to mention, the ending is a happy one. What more would you want of a movie?