You have to hand it to Clara (Penelope Cruz)—her family life may be less than ideal, but she hasn’t let her troubles dampen her spirits. When it’s time to set the table, she and her kids make a dance routine out of it, using the tableware for props and the radio for music. Not long after she and the other neighborhood mothers have rescued their kids from a potentially dangerous situation (they climbed into a storm drain and can’t get out), while the others are slapping their kids and yelling at them for doing something so stupid, she turns the garden hose on everyone and turns the situation into an occasion of merriment.
Clara is a Spanish woman who married a Southern Italian, Felice (Vincenzo Amato) and lives in Rome with him and their three kids. They’re more than comfortable economically, but Clara’s relationship with her husband is strained, due to Felipe’s authoritarian expectations and violent behavior toward her and the kids, to say nothing of his philandering ways (she’s expected to accept him knocking up his secretary). She loves her children unconditionally, however, and has a particularly close relationship with the oldest, 12-year-old Adrianna or Adri or Andrew (Luana Giuliana), who was identified female at birth but has recently begun to say that they are male. Clara is OK with going along with this for the time being, keeping the channels of communication open and giving Adri the space to figure things out, but Felipe is not—he lives in a world where biology is destiny and there’s no room for ambiguity.
It’s never easy to be out of step with the world around you, and the Italian Catholic society of Rome in the mid-1970s probably ranked pretty low on the tolerance scale. Miserable situations in real life can make for interesting drama on the screen, however, and newcomer Giuliana is more than up to the role of Adri, creating a complex portrait of a young person who is not sure about a lot of things but has a strong sense of self and a warm relationship with their family, father excepted. Giuliana is the real star of this film, with Cruz more of a supporting player (but a very magnetic supporting player, of course). Clara may chafe under the constrictions placed on her, but Adri actually takes action to find her freedom, venturing through a sea of weeds to a Roma camp where they form an emotional relationship with a Roma girl (Penelope Nieto Conti) who accepts them for who they are.
Emanuele Crilese’s L’Immensità is primarily a small-scale domestic drama, but also makes significant use of music and dance. I wouldn’t call it a musical, exactly, but more like an enhanced drama. Some of the music and dance episodes are essentially naturalistic, or at least within the realm of what could happen in real life, while others, like a black-and-white 1940’s move style dance break starring Cruz and Giuliana, are flights of fancy included to give you a deeper understanding of the characters. To get much out of this movie, you have to be willing to go with these directorial flourishes, but if you are willing to do so, your reward will be to enjoy a film rich in emotional content. L’Immensità was nominated for several international awards, including the Golden Lion and the Queer Lion at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. | Sarah Boslaugh
L’Immensità will screen at the Hi-Pointe Theatre on May 5 at 7 pm as part of QFest St. Louis 2023. Single film tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid current photo IDs. Further information is available from the festival web site.
