The Odeon Cinema, which has always been the center of Florentine cinematic culture, received an important guest: Maestro Franco Battiatowho will present his new film in cinemas on Sunday, February 22 (20:15). CROSSING THE BARDO. The Bardo of the title is Bardo Thodol, the most famous text in Tibetan literature: it refers to the state of mind after death, when consciousness is separated from the body. A journey beyond the modern taboo of death to explore this energy that never ends, through Battiato’s light and sensitive story.. The Sicilian musical director, animated by a tireless curiosity about new artistic, philosophical and spiritual territories, guides the viewer through the words of monks and philosophers, ascetics, psychologists and scientists of Western and Eastern culture. “I often think about the transition to death – said Battiato – What it will be like, how to prepare for this change in existence. And it’s been incredible to hear the thoughts of so many people trying to answer this topic. We all have to go through this, we just don’t study this passage at all.“
The program of the most important quality films coming from major international festivals (for Italian cinema, which holds the record for programming films in the original version with subtitles) resumes with MORE ALICE (Feb. 2–4), with Julianne Moore nominated for an Oscar for her performance as a woman who one day discovers she has Elzheimer’s disease; UNBROKEN (February 5-11), Angelina Jolie’s second film as director, the story of American athlete and war hero Louis Zamperini; Gemma Boveri (February 9-10), a French comedy about the deception of literature and passion, directed by Anne Fontaine, with the flamboyant Fabrice Luchini; one of the most anticipated films of the season will be released on February 12, BIRDMAN Alejandro González Iñárritu’s latest Venice Film Festival opener, a tragicomedy satirizing the entertainment world with Michael Keaton and Edward Norton; next SELMA (Feb. 19-22), a film that reconstructs the story of the Rev. Martin Luther King and his battle for black emancipation.
The award-winning film will be released March 2-5. Golden Lion of the Venice Film Festival, A DOVE SITTING ON A BRANCH REFLECTS ON EXISTENCE, a surreal and ironic parable of human suffering from Swedish director Roy Andersson. Also on the same days (March 2-5). ROMEO AND JULIET, version 2.0 of William Shakespeare’s famous work. Another one of the most anticipated games of the year will be released from March 9 to 15. Congenital defect (Form Vice), a new film by the great American director Paul Thomas Anderson, set in the sixties, based on one of Thomas Pynchon’s most important novels, starring Joaquin Phoenix as a detective addicted to alcohol and with a very cool manner. From 16 to 19 March Foxcatcher (Pal for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival), a gritty and gripping thriller set in the world of American boxing. Finally, on March 30th and 31st (after the Korean Film Festival in Florence) there will be a place for CINDERELLA (Cinderella): A great Disney classic brought to life again in director Kenneth Branagh’s new live-action version starring Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter.
In honor of the new Oscar winners (which will be awarded in Los Angeles on the night of February 22) The Odeon program devotes the week, from Monday February 23 to Sunday March 1, to the nominated films: CHILDHOOD (February 23-24), 7 nominations, Richard Linklater’s extraordinary film, hailed by international critics as one of the most important cinematic works of the new century (it’s a ten-year-plus feature film that brings actors together to shoot a few scenes every year and watch them really age): a historical film about American history over the past 12 years, a bildungsroman, a magnificent mural about being American children today; GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Feb. 25), Wes Anderson’s cult film (9 nominations), set in a picturesque 1930s Central European hotel; IMITATION GAME (Feb. 26-27), “8 nominations,” a film that tells the incredible story of Alan Turing, the English mathematician who deciphered a vital secret Nazi code during World War II, saving the lives of millions; THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (“The Theory of Everything”), 6 nominations, a film that shocked the world by telling the story of the brilliant astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.