Certainly vacations have influenced films before -- "Roman Holiday" is probably the most obvious. "Respiro," the second feature film from writer and director Emanuele Crialese ("Once We Were Strangers"), is one of the latest examples. After struggling to make his first feature, Crialese needed a break and headed off the Lampedusa, a small island off Sicily.
There he fell in love with the scenery, the people and the way of life. The sun-bleached Lampedusa and its mix of desolation and vibrancy is what gives "Respiro" its spark. That, and Valeria Golino ("Rain Man," "Hot Shots," "The Indian Runner"), who stars as the alternately lively and somber Grazia, whose eccentricities ensure that her name is constantly on the lips of the other islanders.
Grazia and her fisherman husband Pietro (Vicenzo Amato) have three kids: sensitive Pasquale (Francesco Casisa), Filippo (Filippo Pucillo) with his freckled-face, red hair and constantly clenched fists and Marinella (Veronica D'Agostino).
While "Respiro" is largely a film about Grazia's emotional states and her family's attempts to deal with them, it is also a film about Lampedusa and about growing up there. The 90-minute picture is full of scenes of kids terrorizing other kids, boys courting girls, girls courting boys, youngsters diving for fish off the rocks.
When Pietro's family becomes determined to send Grazia to Milan to seek the help of a doctor, it takes a while for Pietro himself to become convinced. But when he is convinced, Grazia takes off and her relationship with Pasquale is further forged.
{INSERT_RELATED}But will the townspeople miss Grazia's antics? Will her family be able to go on without her?
You'll love finding out. While the film isn't the best you'll see this year, it has a quiet charm, a sweet sensibility and some lovely scenery. The performances are good, especially Golino's and Casisa's, who are passionate in opposing ways: she a rollercoaster ride and he a calm sea. Who is the parent and who is the child in their relationship becomes, at times, a difficult question to answer.
Crialese does a masterful job of showing us his new-found love for Lampedusa and inspiring in us a similar passion.
"Respiro," rated PG-13, opens Fri., July 4 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre. The film is in Italian with English subtitles.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
