“L’Immensità” is in the Spotlight category because it premiered at a previous festival, in this case, Venice Film Festival and was an audience favorite. The title is Italian and means “immensity" in English.
Directed by Emanuele Crialese, the film is set in an early 1970's Rome. The city is in transition, with construction and an emerging middle class but many elements of this family's life is deeply rooted in tradition, for better and worse.
Penelope Cruz, at age 48, is still as magnetic and charismatic on the screen as she was at 18. She plays the mother of young Adriana who identifies as Andrew and who is the heart and soul of the film. Young actress Luana Giuliani does a phenomenal portrayal of a young tween coming of age and transitioning in a very complicated world. The film is cinematically interesting, beautifully shot and the power of the story is enhanced with several dream sequence style song and dance routines in black and white.