Respiro is a 2002 Italian-French drama film written and directed by Emanuele Crialese and released in English-language markets in 2003. The film stars Valeria Golino, Vincenzo Amato, and Francesco Casisa. In the Italian language, respiro means breath.

Plot

Grazia, played by Golino, is a free-spirited mother of three married to shy fisherman Pietro (Vincenzo Amato) and living on the idyllic but isolated island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. She shows signs of manic depressive behaviour—one moment she is laughing wildly and swimming half-naked in the sea, while the next she is 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.