Edited by Elio Rabbione
Avatar – The Water Way – Fantasy. Directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Kate Winslet and Sigourney Weaver. Sequel to the first “Avatar” arrived on screens in 2009, Cameron’s eighth effort along a now forty-year career. Characters and sets and adventures imprinted in the memory of the public, fabulous, exciting. The story that will occupy the Christmas screens from today will see Jack Sully and Neytiri and their three sons still grappling with the humans, led by Colonel Miles Quaritch, who have once again bet on the reconquest of their lands: the military, with some other marines, is hidden in the guise of the avatar of a Na’vi, in order to resemble the enemy and by deception to be able to capture the traitor Sully, to whom we owe the entire design of the defense of his new people. The family will thus be forced to leave their home to go in search of new territories in the regions of Pandora. Alessandra Levantesi Kezich writes in the columns of La Stampa: “Cameron has completed the mission and offers a fascinating immersive experience, absolutely to be enjoyed on the big screen … the last, masterful part of the story, all played out in the waterways , reveals once more in Cameron the great lord of the Abyss that we know.” For fans: the main characters have already signed their respective contracts for participation in “Avatar” 3 and 4. Duration 192 minutes. (Uci Lingotto in 3D)
Decision to Leave – Thriller, Drama. Directed by Park Chan-Wook. An austere detective must investigate a possible homicide case, the death of a man while climbing a mountain. It won’t be long before suspicions of him fall on the victim’s wife for whom the man begins to have strong feelings. Designated Film of Critics by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Critics with the following motivation: “Hitchcockian vertigo returns to the geometries of Park Chan-Wook, whose technical or artistic dexterity never ends in itself but seeks trajectories to represent the mystery and desire . Here the Wong Kar-Wai mélo marries the thriller while the protagonist Tang Wei marks the cross between Kim Novak and Eva Marie Saint.” Duration 138 minutes. (National VO room 2 and room 4)
Empire of Light – Dramatic. Directed by Sam Mendes, starring Olivia Colman, Michael Ward, Toby Jones and Colin Firth. A love story set in 1980s England and revolving around a wonderful old cinema in a small town on the south coast of England. It tells how Hilary, a woman who is part of the staff of the room and who has to deal with her mental health, and Stephen, a new employee who dreams of escaping from this small provincial town where he faces everyday adversity. Both Hilary and Stephen find a sense of belonging through their sweet and unlikely relationship and experience the healing power of music, cinematic images and the small community they are a part of. Duration 119 minutes. (Classico, Eliseo Rosso, Reposi room 1, Romano room 1 and room 2, Uci Lingotto room 8, Uci Moncalieri room 14)
Everything Everywhere All At Once – Fantastic comedy. Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, starring Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis. Evelyn, a woman of Chinese origins, runs a launderette with her husband Raymond, a business that is the livelihood of the entire family, which also includes her maternal grandfather and their daughter Joy. Evelyn is not happy with her marriage, she knows she married a man who is too weak, she certainly does not look kindly on the relationship that Joy is pursuing with another woman, plus the tax office arrives, in the person of the iron punctilious Deirdre, to clear the arrears of payments. The badly tolerated unhappiness of an existence is completely revolutionized by a very current metaverse that pushes her to face an adventure in which parallel realities are conveyed, no small feat if it is a question of saving the fate of the universes and defeating the enemy forever. Eleven Oscar nominations. Duration 139 minutes. (Uci Lingotto room 4)
Over there someone loves me – Documentary. Directed by Mario Martone. A tribute from the director of the “Mayor of the Sanità district” and “Here I laugh” to the art of Massimo Troisi, the story of his life interrupted too suddenly, the analysis of his few works, the contrast with the female universe, the vision of Naples, the path of director and actor (we all remember the amazement of the novelty that was “Groundhog Day three”, we all remember the friendship and collaboration in three films with EttoreScola), poetry and amusement, the invention of a language and of a highly controlled as well as explicit physicality, the final moment of the “Postman”, the contribution of his companions (the beginning was “La smorfia” with Decaro and Arena) and collaborators, not least his companion Anna Pavignano, architect with Troisi of the various screenplays, those who accompanied and followed him (Sorrentino, Ficarra and Picone, Goffredo Fofi, the editor Roberto Perpignani, the director Michael Radford, the sister with many memories). Duration 128 minutes. (Elisha Blu, National room 4)
Not so close – Comedy drama. Directed by Marc Forster, with Tom Hanks and Rachel Keller. Based on the novel “The man who put the world in order” by Swedish Fredrik Backman, the action is transported to Pittsburg. It is the merciless portrait of a man struggling with every representative of the human race, averse to all socialization, tied to his own habits and solitary, opposed to any slightest disorder that circulates in the streets surrounding his house. At the center of a life made so adverse. Otto contemplates suicide: but it will be precisely the presence of the new neighbors that will make him desist from rash ideas and make him experience how pleasantly human one can enjoy during one’s days. Duration 126 minutes. (Due Giardini room Ombrerosse, Fratelli Marx room Chico, The Space Turin, Uci Lingotto room 1, The Space Beinasco, Uci Moncalieri room 5 and room 16)
Primadonna – Dramatic. Directed by Marta Savina, with Claudia Gusmano and Fabrizio Ferracane. The story of Lia, a young girl who reacts to the most terrible violence with an act of rebellion that will undermine the social customs of her time. In a world where the law of the strongest reigns, the mafia is rooted and accepted as a natural part of life, the powerful decide and the weakest execute, her courage will pave the way for the fight for women’s rights. Duration 97 minutes. (Roman room 2)
The spirits of the island – Dramatic. Directed by Martin McDonagh, with Colin Farrell (Coppa Volpi at the Venice Film Festival) and Brendan Gleeson. In 1923, on an island off the west coast of Ireland, two longtime friends, Padraic and Colm, find themselves in a stalemate when Colm abruptly decides to end their friendship. A confused and devastated Padraic attempts to rekindle their relationship with the support of his sister Siobhan, who along with Dominic, the local policeman’s son, has concerns about him within the local community. But when Colm issues a shocking ultimatum to make his plans a reality, events begin to spiral. Designated Film of Critics by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Critics with the following motivation: “Martin McDonagh openly expresses the debt that his cinema has always owed to his parallel activity as a playwright for the theatre. So once again two abysmal roles are needed for the fetish-faces of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, in a growing and uncontrolled conflict: the rest is told by the island, the splendid surrounding figures and the not distant echo of the battles of the civil war of Ireland on the mainland.” Duration 90 minutes. (Ambrosio room 1 VO, Eliseo Blu, Greenwich room 3, Reposi room 1, Romano room 5)
Tar – Dramatic. Directed by Todd Field, starring Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss. Lydia Tàr, the first woman ever to conduct the Berliner Philarmoniker orchestra, finds herself at the center of controversy over the abuse of power exercised in her role and the request for sexual favors made to female employees in exchange for professional recognition. In particular, after the suicide of one of her former assistants, Krysta, compromising evidence and videos begin to circulate, probably disseminated by members of her own staff. Duration 158 minutes. (Eliseo Rosso, Greenwich Village room 2, Nazionale room 3 also VO)
The Quiet Girl – Dramatic. Directed by Colm Bairéad, starring Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett. In Ireland in 1981, Cait, a girl of just nine, a large family and an abusive father, her mother once again expecting a child, spends her days alone. In the summer she is sent to her parents by a couple of distant relatives. The little girl will flourish again, but in this house she will discover a secret. Based on the short story “Foster” by Irish writer Claire Keegan. Duration 95 minutes. (Roman room 3)
The Whale – Dramatic. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Brendan Fraser, Samantha Morton and Sadie Sink. Based on the play by Samuel Hunter, the work by the director of “The Wrestler” tells of Charlie, an English teacher, a life in full solitude, a suffering due to severe obesity, a life that is coming to an end . It is the time of memories and decisions, between the feelings that lead him to physical and moral disturbances never brought back into the open, to a love never revealed, to a seventeen-year-old daughter with whom he tries to rebuild relationships after years. Aronofsky returns to one of the key themes of his filmography, that of the study of the body – yesterday Mickey Rourke, today Brendan Fraser -, almost brazenly exposed and analyzed in every part, of immobility, of its change and even of dissolution. And Fraser, behind periods of depression, weight gain, once a sought-after actor and later on the list of those almost completely abandoned by the opportunist world of Hollywood, which started after the success of the various episodes of the “Mummy” on a precipitous boulevard in the sunset, finds its full redemption here, offering an excellent interpretation and rightly applying for an Oscar. Duration 117 minutes. (Ambrosio room 3 also VO, Centrale, Due Giardini room Ombrerosse, Fratelli Marx room Harpo, The Space Torino, Uci Lingotto room 3, The Space Beinasco, Uci Moncalieri room 5)
The last night of love – Thriller. Directed by Andrea Di Stefano, with Pierfrancesco Favino, Linda Caridi and Francesco Di Leva. The night before his retirement, police lieutenant Franco Amore is called to investigate the crime scene where his best friend and longtime partner Dino was killed during a robbery. It will become clear that Amore was involved in the robbery and that only the love of his wife Viviana will help him survive this fateful night. Duration 120 minutes. (Ambrosio room 2, Massaua, Due Giardini room Nirvana, Eliseo GrandeFratelli Marx room Groucho, Ideal, Lux room 3, Uci Lingotto room 9, Uci Moncalieri room 1)
A happy man – Comedy. Directed by Tristan Séguéla, with Fabrice Luchini and Catherine Frot. While Jean, a conservative, campaigns to be re-elected mayor of a small town in northern France, Edith, his wife of forty years, reveals a secret he can no longer suppress: in her heart, she is – and always is state – a man. At first Jean thinks he’s joking, but she quickly realizes Edith is determined to transition. Both his marriage and her campaign are about to undergo serious change. Duration 89 minutes. (National team room 1 also VO)