Along with De Angelis’ Comandante, the film that will officially open Venice in 2023, there are four other Italian films that are in the running for the 80th Venice Film Festival, among them: The Captain by Matteo Garrone, the film tells the story of two young people , Seydou and Mousses (Seydou Sarr and Mustapha Fall) who leave Dakar, Senegal to embark on a long journey to reach their coveted Europe.
Their journey is a veritable odyssey in the modern world, which leads them to cross thousands of traps, the dangers of the high seas, and perhaps the greatest danger, the danger of man himself, full of ambiguity, hypocrisy and false humanity. unscrupulous persons who use for personal purposes.
Another film shortlisted for the Golden Lion in Italy is Dawn at Last by Saverio Costanzo with Lily James and Willem Dafoe. The film takes place in the 1950s. It tells the story of a young aspiring actress from Rome who is about to get engaged when she is called to the Cinecittà studio to audition as an extra. It should be borne in mind that in those years, the cinematographic establishments of Cinecittà were preparing to become Hollywood on the Tiber, consecrating their recognition, of course, were Ben-Hur by Willian Wheeler in 1959 and Cleopatra by Joseph Mankiewicz, Darryl F. Zanuck, Ruben Mmulian from 1963. The audition experience that the young betrothed will have will allow her to experience an endless night full of emotions, during which she will rediscover herself.
These memorable hours spent in Cinecitta will be a real transition for her into adulthood.
Still competing in Venice 2023, we have Pietro Castellitto with his Aeneas. Where the protagonist chases after the myth that bears his name, and does so in order to feel alive in an age of decline, consisting of isolation, individualism and, I dare say, dead. Together with Aeneas we have Valentino, a newly baptized pilot. In addition to their youth, the two friends also share trading, drug use, and partying. Friends for life, victims and perpetrators of a corrupt world at the same time. Even if in their own way they are both driven by the form of imperishable life force. Aeneas and Valentino will fly higher, to extreme consequences, beyond the rules, because on the other side of morality there is an infinite amount of humanity and symbols to be discovered.
Giorgio Rights with his “Lubo” is another Italian masterpiece presented in Venice in 2023 and tells the story of Ljubo Moser, a very young jenissch with a strong character, very close to his family. Ljubo, like a real nomad, loves to be free and from time to time move around with a cart and earn money by playing the accordion. We are in the 1930s and the winds of war are blowing out of Germany, threatening Europe and beyond. In this hot climate, the Swiss government mobilizes its male citizens, including Roma, and places them at every European border. And just like that, Ljubo finds himself in uniform with the task of controlling and protecting Swiss borders. The protagonist agrees to obey the commands of his superiors, convinced that the situation that he experiences as a real prison will sooner or later be able to return to freedom in order to live a familiar life with his family. But one night, he is visited by his brother, who gives him bad news from the nomad camp after police intervention. A part of Lubo seems to be dying to make way for another person, a person driven by a strong desire for revenge that will cause him to confuse this blurry line between good and evil.
The last film in the competition is Adagio by Stefano Sollima with Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo, Adriano Giannini and Valerio Mastranrea. The film tells about Manuel, a sixteen-year-old teenager who is busy caring for his elderly father, trying to enjoy life as best he can. One day, a young man is blackmailed and asked to take some photos of a mystery man during a party.
However, the protagonist Manuel feels he has been deceived and decides to run away. Immediately after that, his blackmailers set out to eliminate him as a witness to things that were inconvenient for them. At this moment, Manuel, in order to save himself, decides to turn to two former criminals, old acquaintances of his father. Thus, this year the curator of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera, submitted at least five Italian films to the competition.
Also up for the Golden Lion are Polanski, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon with the unforgettable Joaquin Phoenix, who received his first recognition in Venice before winning the Oscar for best actor in Joker, Sofia Coppola, Lanthimos with Emma Stone and Ferrari. . — Adam Driver. So these are some of the films claiming the Golden Lion which, as has often happened in recent years, was a good springboard for the Oscar race, it was exactly the same for Joaquin Phoenix and his Joker, it was the same most last year for La La Land’s Emma Stone and The Whale’s Brendan Fraser.
Therefore, Venice, thanks to its history, has always been considered the most elegant and most prestigious cinematic showcase of the old continent and one of the most interesting in the world, but also and above all for the city in which it is located. Venice.
Paul Tinorio