Rating: 
Summary: Free Spirited
Review: "Respiro" is a highly entertaining italian movie released. Its theme of a mother of three who expresses her happy and her depressed side is brilliant. Its twists and turns arise as those closest to her change her life; some for the better, some for the worse. Such unique theme offers higher entertainment value to the audience. Its combination of free spirit and destruction keeps every scene interesting. Its every risque scene earns the producers tremendous repect despite difference in nudity opinions between the US and Italy. Valeria Golino("Frida") shines in her lead role as the mother of three. Her heart and soul poured into this movie fits the movie theme perfectly. So far, this is one of her career bests. She proves in this movie that she'll be a big-name actress in the near future. All other actors, old and young, also perform wonderfully. "Respiro" is a great movie for those looking for those looking for a worthy drama. This will surely please many audiences.
Rating:
Summary: Free Spirited
Review: "Respiro" is a highly entertaining italian movie released. Its theme of a mother of three who expresses her happy and her depressed side is brilliant. Its twists and turns arise as those closest to her change her life; some for the better, some for the worse. Such unique theme offers higher entertainment value to the audience. Its combination of free spirit and destruction keeps every scene interesting. Its every risque scene earns the producers tremendous repect despite difference in nudity opinions between the US and Italy. Valeria Golino("Frida") shines in her lead role as the mother of three. Her heart and soul poured into this movie fits the movie theme perfectly. So far, this is one of her career bests. She proves in this movie that she'll be a big-name actress in the near future. All other actors, old and young, also perform wonderfully. "Respiro" is a great movie for those looking for those looking for a worthy drama. This will surely please many audiences.
Rating:
Summary: Free Spirited
Review: "Respiro" is a highly entertaining italian movie released. Its theme of a mother of three who expresses her happy and her depressed side is brilliant. Its twists and turns arise as those closest to her change her life; some for the better, some for the worse. Such unique theme offers higher entertainment value to the audience. Its combination of free spirit and destruction keeps every scene interesting. Its every risque scene earns the producers tremendous repect despite difference in nudity opinions between the US and Italy. Valeria Golino("Frida") shines in her lead role as the mother of three. Her heart and soul poured into this movie fits the movie theme perfectly. So far, this is one of her career bests. She proves in this movie that she'll be a big-name actress in the near future. All other actors, old and young, also perform wonderfully. "Respiro" is a great movie for those looking for those looking for a worthy drama. This will surely please many audiences.
Rating: 
Summary: Hopelessly enigmatic
Review: I defy anyone, even an Italian, even an Italian from the same region of beach as this movie was shot, to explain what in the world this movie was about. Golino's performance was quite good, the other actors were good, but the story behind this left me feeling like I'd just wasted 2 hours of my life.
Five stars for enigma, one star for watchability.
Rating: 
Summary: A
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: I loved this film; I'm about to buy the DVD. It's enchanting. You may argue that the ending is weak but I don't know. The more I think about the ending, the more I like it.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful movie
Review: 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?
Rating:
Summary: Are there still people and places like this?
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Hopelessly enigmatic
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Are there still people and places like this?
Review: 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.
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