L'immensità (transl. The Immensity) is a 2022 drama film directed by Emanuele Crialese, who co-wrote the screenplay with Francesca Manieri and Vittorio Moroni. It stars Penélope Cruz, Luana Giuliani and Vincenzo Amato. An international co-production between Italy and France, the film follows a dysfunctional family in Italy in the 1970s.

L'immensità
Italian theatrical release poster
Directed byEmanuele Crialese
Screenplay by
Story byEmanuele Crialese
Produced by
  • Mario Gianani
  • Lorenzo Gangarossa
Starring
  • Penélope Cruz
  • Luana Giuliani
  • Vincenzo Amato
  • Patrizio Francioni
  • Maria Chiara Goretti
  • Penelope Nieto Conti
  • Alvia Reale
  • India Santella
  • Mariangela Granelli
CinematographyGergely Pohárnok
Edited byClelio Benevento
Music byRauelsson
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 4 September 2022 (2022-09-04) (Venice)
  • 15 September 2022 (2022-09-15) (Italy)
  • 11 January 2023 (2023-01-11) (France)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
Countries
  • Italy
  • France
LanguageItalian
Box office$3 million[2]

Synopsis edit

In 1970s Rome, Clara is a nonconformist Spanish expatriate trapped in a loveless marriage to Felice, an unfaithful and abusive businessman, with whom she has three children: Adriana, Gino and Diana. Their eldest child, 12-year-old Adriana, experiences gender dysphoria. Adriana rejects girlhood and instead identifies as a boy, wearing boys' clothes and adopting the masculine name Andrea.[a] One day, Andrea befriends Sara, a Romani girl who knows him as a boy. Upon a shared sense of being outsiders, Andrea and Clara grow closer.

Cast edit

Production edit

The screenplay was written by Crialese, Francesca Manieri and Vittorio Moroni.[8] An Italian-French co-production,[9] L'immensità was produced by Wildside, Warner Bros. Entertainment Italia, Chapter 2, Pathé, and France 3 Cinéma.[6]

Release edit

The film had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on 4 September 2022. It was released theatrically in Italy on 15 September 2022 by Warner Bros. Pictures and in France on 11 January 2023 by Pathé Films.[7][10][11]

Reception edit

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, L'Immensità holds an approval rating of 83% based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "L'immensità can be excessively immense at times but with an always superlative Penélope Cruz at its core, this vibrant coming-of-age story with undeniable heart is a memorable experience."[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]

Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter summed the film up as "a vibrant, if over-crammed, family affair."[4] For Variety, Guy Lodge writes that the film "is too palpably pained and heartfelt to be called slight, but it's sensitive and peculiar in ways that feel fragile".[6]

Robbie Collin, writing for The Daily Telegraph, rated the film four out of five stars, deeming the "surprisingly autobiographical" picture to be "a child's-eye-view portrait of domestic sadness and the craving for escape from it".[14] Wendy Ide of Screen Daily highlighted Cruz's performance as "a cross between Sophia Loren and a solar flare".[15] Stephanie Bunbury of Deadline Hollywood considered that deep down, the film "is fundamentally quite bleak, but it wears a delightfully cheerful face".[5]

Accolades edit

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2023
31st Actors and Actresses Union Awards Best Actress in an International Production Penélope Cruz Nominated [16]
68th David di Donatello Awards Best Original Screenplay Emanuele Crialese, Francesca Manieri, Vittorio Moroni Nominated [17]
Best Actress Penélope Cruz Nominated
Best Hair Daniela Tartari Nominated

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ "Andrew" in the English subtitles[3]

References edit

  1. ^ "L'immensità (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  2. ^ "L'immensità (2022)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ^ Romney, Jonathan (5 September 2022). "L'Immensità: a heartfelt but overly insistent drama". Sight and Sound. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Felperin, Leslie (4 September 2022). "'L'Immensita' Review: Penelope Cruz Wows Again in Turbulent Italian Family Drama". The Hollywood Reporter.
  5. ^ a b Bunbury, Stephanie (5 September 2022). "Venice Review: Penelope Cruz In Emanuele Crialese's 'L'Immensita'". Deadline Hollywood.
  6. ^ a b c Lodge, Guy (4 September 2022). "'L'Immensità' Review: Penélope Cruz Adds Dazzle to a Gentle, Poignant Tale of Transgender Adolescence". Variety.
  7. ^ a b c Gogiali, Giulia (5 September 2022). "Festival di Venezia, due baby attori di Pomezia nel nuovo film con Penelope Cruz". Il Corriere della Città (in Italian).
  8. ^ De Marco, Camillo (5 September 2022). "Review: L'immensità". Cineuropa.
  9. ^ "L'immensità". La Biennale di Venezia. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  10. ^ De Tommasi, Alessandra (17 September 2022). "Penélope Cruz, madre-coraggio per L'immensità". Vanity Fair (in Italian). Italy.
  11. ^ Colon, Tanguy (18 July 2022). "Pathé Films date L'Immensità". Boxoffice Pro (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  12. ^ "L'immensità". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  13. ^ "L'Immensità Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  14. ^ Collin, Robbie (4 September 2022). "L'Immensità, review: Penélope Cruz channels Sophia Loren in this bruising family portrait". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022.
  15. ^ Ide, Wendy (4 September 2022). "'L'Immensita': Venice Review". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022.
  16. ^ Aller, María (31 January 2023). "Premios Unión de Actores 2023: conoce a los nominados de la XXXI edición". Fotogramas (in Spanish).
  17. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (11 May 2023). "'The Eight Mountains', 'Exterior Night' Take Top Honors At Italy's David di Donatello Awards – Full Nominees and Winners List". Deadline Hollywood.

External links edit