L’immensità: Italian drama starring Penélope Cruz as a loving but overwhelmed mother of three children in 1970s Rome.
plot and background
Clara Borghetti (Penélope Cruz) moves with her family into one of the many apartment complexes that increasingly grace the outskirts of 1970s Rome. But even the chic new apartment with a view can’t hide the fact that she finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage to her authoritarian husband (Vincenzo Amato). The mother therefore invests her energy primarily in the intimate relationship with her three children, and she does everything she can to provide them with a beautiful childhood.
Others find Clara’s impartiality and her exuberant fantasies in playing with the children a thorn in the side. She has a particularly close relationship with her eldest daughter Adriana (Luana Giuliani). The twelve-year-old knows exactly about her mother’s changing moods, but often feels invisible herself. Not even her name fits her. When Adriana begins to unflinchingly introduce herself as a boy in the new neighborhood, the fragile external bond that just barely holds the family together is pushed to the point where it threatens to snap.
“L’Immensità – My Fantastic Mother” – background, cast, theatrical release
In “L’Immensità – My Fantastic Mother,” Italian director and screenwriter Emanuele Crialese (“Lampedusa”) portrays a family in transition in the Rome of the dazzling 1970s. Drawing on Crialese’s own childhood, the drama represents his most personal film to date. In the role of the loving mother on the verge of a nervous breakdown shines none other than Oscar winner Penélope Cruz (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”).
“L’Immensità – My Fantastic Mother” celebrated its world premiere in competition in Venice and also screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In this country, the poetic Italian drama will be released in cinemas on July 27, 2023.
