Pietro Baragiola
After success Midnight in ParisWoody Allen takes us back to the streets of Paris in a new film written and directed by himself that touches on the theme of luck in everyday life: Random coup.
This marks The 50th film in the career of the Jewish New York director who, despite his 87 years and accusations of abuse, is at the forefront of presenting his new project in the “Out of Competition” section80th Venice International Film Festival.
“A story full of romance, passion and violence, set in modern-day Paris and evolving around a love story between two young people, former classmates, escalating into adultery and finally into crime,” Allen explained during a press conference in Venice.
Although there were rumors that this could be his last project, the 87-year-old director proved himself ready to take on new challenges. Same Random coup this is a turning point for Allen, who, for the first time he shot a film entirely in Frenchthus paying tribute to the European cinema that inspired his career since childhood.
“It was an extremely rewarding experience filming with an all-French cast because I felt True European Director– Allen said proudly.
Random coup it will be shown in its original language in the main Italian cinemas Space Cinema on September 15th, preceded by a welcome video from the director, and then returns to our cinemas in translation on December 6th, distributed by the film company Lucky Red.
“Chance coup” and the role of luck
“I don’t believe in luck, I build it” – the words of a rich businessman Jean (Melville Poupaud), husband of the beauty Fanny (Lou de Laage), main characters Random coup.
These two seem to be the epitome of the perfect couple: both are successful in their jobs, live in a gorgeous apartment in one of the most prestigious areas of Paris, and seem just as in love as when they first met. However, this love idyll is soon interrupted when Fanny runs into her former classmate, the bohemian Alain (Niels Schneider), and when passion flares up between them, the main character contemplates a plan to leave her husband and spend the rest of her life with her new love.
A plot that shares many similarities with one of Woody Allen’s greatest masterpieces: Match points. The film, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson, released in 2005, focuses on themes of lust, betrayal and murder, which are also present in the films. Random couppaying special attention luck which, according to the director, has a fundamental role in our lives.
“I have been very lucky throughout my life: I have had two loving parents, good friends, a wonderful life and marriage, and wonderful children. At the ripe old age of 87, I have never suffered from anything bad enough to land me in the hospital,” Allen said, explaining that luck has been a recurring theme throughout his career, earning him enormous attention and respect from his peers. peers. .
IN Random coup this will be the same luck when the character of Jean never believes that he will accidentally meet his wife Fanny with young Alain, which is where the whole plot begins.
Although not a comedy, this film is full of unexpected twists and received loud laughter and applause from the audience in the theater, thanks in part to extraordinary acting of the main characters including Nils Schneider, Lou de Laage, Valerie Lemercier, Melville Poupaud, Gregory Gadebois and Elsa Silberstein.
“I worked with top-notch actors and actresses on this film,” Allen said proudly during the matinee press screening. “So you could say I was unlucky. Obviously, it’s not yet noon, and who knows,” the director continued with his eternal irony.
European charm in Woody Allen’s films
Although the film is his first project shot entirely in a language other than English, European connections follow Woody Allen’s film career since its creation: in the 80s and 90s, the director collaborated with Bergman’s cinematographer, Sven Kikvist, with whom he shot an extraordinary Crimes and misdemeanors in 1989; in 2015 he met Vittorio Storarothe great Italian filmmaker, known for the main masterpieces of Bernardo Bertolucci and who received an Oscar for this film. The apocalypse has arrivedwith whom he would collaborate on four different projects before calling him back Random coup.
“I’ve always dreamed of making films like the Europeans,” Allen told the magazine. Diversity. “When I was young, the films that influenced me the most were French, Italian and Swedish auteurs, and it was through these films that I realized I wanted to be a director.”
When asked during a press conference how it started idea to make a film in FrenchAllen responded that he originally wrote the film with two Americans living in Paris in mind, but then decided to “take a chance” in honor of his fiftieth film.
“It’s a language I don’t know, but it wasn’t difficult to work with because even if you watch a film in Japanese, you can tell if the level of acting is realistic, believable or subdued. “I liked the idea of working in the style of the French directors I grew up with and always adored, such as Truffaut, Renoir, Godard and Resnais,” the director said.
Random coup also scored Woody Allen’s first return to the film festival after opening Cannes Film Festival in 2016 from Cafe Society. His relationship with Venice Film Festivaloldest film festival in the world, dates back to cinema Zelig 1983, which brought him Pasinetti Prize and then get Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 1995.
This year Random coup It will join several other films from prominent Jewish directors premiering at the festival, including Castle Roman Polanski e Kane Mutiny Court Martialthe last film by producer William Friedkin, who died in August.
The premiere took place in the middle of the festival, 4 Septemberand the director attended the screening along with the French actors, his wife Soon-Yi Previn and their adopted daughters Manzi Tio and Bechet.
When the lights came on at the end of the film, the audience exploded. stormy applause to celebrate the director’s new masterpiece.
Next projects
Although he is not yet ready to retire from the film stage, allegations of abuse against his adopted daughter Dylan Farrowfloated to the surface with #MeToo phenomenon they did Allen found it increasingly difficult to find financing to produce his films..
“I still have a lot of ideas, but I don’t know if I have the strength to look for funds to finance them,” the director explained, saying that he would only agree to make films in other European countries if he thought the projects were suitable for a given place and have sufficient knowledge about that place.
With regard to his favorite New YorkAllen said he already has an idea ready if anyone agrees to follow it. its increasingly eccentric rules: “They can’t read the script or know who’s in it. They’ll just have to give me the money and leave. If any fool agrees to this nonsense, I will definitely make another film in New York.”