Nov. 29, 2023: L’immensità

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023
7 pm @ Galaxy Cinemas, Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Director: Emanuele Crialese
Italy/France 2022
Italian; 97 minutes
Rated: PG

Clara (Penélope Cruz) and Felice (Vincenzo Amato) have reached an impasse: they no longer love each other, but they can’t seem to leave each other; their children keep them together. Their eldest, Adriana (Luana Giuliani), is in a state of refusal of her name and her identity, and her dogged determination to convince everyone that she is a boy brings the already fragile stability of her family to a breaking point. As the children search for some sort of guidance – be it a voice from above or a song on the TV – everything changes, both inside and outside of themselves. An evocative portrait of a family in turmoil, L’immensità will stay with you long after the credits roll.

[Penelope Cruz’s] luminance is arguably worth the price of admission. Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

Its scenes have the tingling specificity of formative memory, where peculiar, attention-snagging details somehow serve as lightning rods for the emotions crackling overhead. Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph (UK)

By turns wry and tragic, but never glib or mawkish, this is a visually rich and evocative drama about navigating the often treacherous path to adulthood. Pat Brown, Slant Magazine