Grazia (Valeria Golino), a married mother of three young children, bathes naked in front of the fishermen, lets loose the stray dogs from the local lockup and emits a kinetic energy that leaves the community reeling. The cause of her unruly state of mind is left refreshingly nebulous. Is she a wanton troublemaker frustrated with the banalities of a sleepy fishing port, in need of medication as the community suspects, or (as the mythical qualities of the film imply) an ardent and misunderstood free spirit?

DID YOU KNOW?
	After studying film in Rome, Crialese carried on in New York where his graduate films won numerous accolades.   Respiro won the Critics Week Award in Cannes 2002

Director Crialese is interested by this type of character and says: "We have this weird tendency as human beings to look for the black sheep...they're the ones who get the blame, but it's through their sacrifice that we understand more about ourselves." And so it is with Grazia who is castigated by her ultra-traditional, close-knit Italian community.

As a trailblazer for free will, she's a hard act to follow yet her children are a similar mobilizing force. For example, when the nubile Marinella (Veronica D'Agostino) openly flirts with the local bobby, it's her younger sibling, the precocious Filippo (Filippo Pucillo), who sends the unnerved officer packing.

Valeria Golino's superb performance embodies a natural brilliance as Grazia which is heightened by cinematographer Fabio Zamarion's treatment of the illustrious Sicilian light. Vincenzo Amato conveys a rugged sensitivity as her confused but loyal husband Pietro.