Synopsis
Grazia is a free-spirited mother-of-three married to shy fisherman Pietro and living on the idyllic but isolated island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. She shows signs of manic depressive behavior — one moment she's laughing wildly and swimming half-naked in the sea, while the next she's curled in a ball on her bed. Out of her earshot, the adult members of her extended family vaguely discuss sending her to a facility of some sort in Northern Italy.
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Cast
- Valeria GolinoGrazia
- Vincenzo AmatoPietro
- Francesco CasisaPasquale
- Veronica D'AgostinoMarinella
- Filippo PucilloFilippo
- Muzzi LoffredoNonna
- Elio GermanoPier Luigi
- Avy Marcianovelista francese
- Giuseppe Del Volgozio Pino
- Matteo SolinaZio Antonio
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
Not since "Y Tu Mamá También" has a movie so palpably captured the down-to-earth, flesh-and-blood reality of high-spirited people living their lives without self-consciousness. - 80
Washington Post
It's slight but in a haunting way, like a half-remembered dream. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
For all Golino's comeliness, she's upstaged by the windy beauty of the landscape, and by Crialese's attention -- in an Italian neorealist way -- to the routines of daily life in an insular, traditional culture. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
On its own terms, the movie succeeds. Like a fable, its meanings are unspecific but haunting. - 70
L.A. Weekly
The movie's pleasures draw on old-fashioned Italian neo-realist simplicity. - 70
The A.V. Club
The film's generous spirit, disarming mixture of beauty and brutality, and gentle, insistent sweep make it easy to surrender to it anyway. - 70
Film Threat
As a whole, the film is perhaps a bit too gentle and meandering, but it's jammed full of superb moments. - 50
Portland Oregonian
The authenticity of its setting and its actors make this effort worth a look.
