L'immensità

Trailer.

Available Summary:

"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. 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." -Wikipedia.

Jack's Summary:

Emanuele Crialese, a trans man born in 1965, directed this semi-autobiographical film about a trans boy's relationship with his mother. Beyond the trans themes, the movie primarily deals with family dysfunction, misogyny, spousal control, domestic abuse, and infidelity.

Andrea (alternatively called Andrew in the translated English version of this film) is the oldest of three children. All children are experiencing distress and mental illness due to domestic conflict, with Andrea's brother overeating, suffering from pica, and defecating indoors on the carpet. At its most disturbing, this film shows Andrea crawling into his parent's bedroom to save his mother from being raped by her husband. These darker themes are so central to the story that this attempted rape is included in the film's official trailer, linked above.

The movie overall oscillates between lighthearted, idyllic childhood scenes and confronting instances of assault, harassment, bigotry, and mental breakdowns. Ultimately, this is a good film, although it did feel somewhat unfinished when I got to the end. I liked the explorations of Andrea's gender identity and frustration. He tries to figure out who he is through fantasies involving God, aliens, and adoption. He has a romance with Sara, a local girl who accepts him as a boy. They play games together and have their first kiss.

The film touches on the experiences of Romani people and anti-Romani sentiment, but doesn't linger on that topic too much. You can learn more about anti-Romani prejudice in this article (please note that the article uses historical terms which are often considered pejoratives today, and shouldn't be used by non-Romani people outside of a historical discussion).

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Crialese discussed the film and his casting choices. He did not prioritise casting a trans actor to play this fictionalised version of his younger self, saying, "I searched among young girls who play sports considered "boy" sports. Luana [who played Andrea] races motorcycles". So, he sought a masculine energy, regardless of actor gender.