The recently concluded Film Biennale was a winner, in tune with today’s scenario and the dystopian social world of today, great cinema that makes us dream as well as reflect on the problems that surround us. The 80th Venice International Film Festival presented a selection of important films with strong emotions that filled the halls of the Lido with voices from all continents. Producers, distributors, directors, critics, teachers and a young and attentive public, despite the absence of red carpet of the most famous American stars currently on strike in Hollywood.
Neo Sora, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, 2023. Courtesy of Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus
Director Alberto Barbera expressed satisfaction with the latest digital data, which confirms a significant increase compared to 2022 in the number of visits (230 thousand) and tickets purchased (85 thousand). Among the premieres and films restored for the “Venetian Classics” section, there are many interesting titles and several masterpieces. Here we will focus on some of the many films of the Festival that left a mark, emotion, memory or desire.
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor things2023. Credits: Atsushi Nishijima, courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
A masterpiece awarded the Golden Lion – in Italian cinemas in January 2024 – recognized as beautiful.”Poor Things(Poor guys!) by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. Emma Stone, who plays Bella Baxter, is a glamorous Victorian woman brought to life by scientist Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) in the wake of Frankenstein’s creation. Bella, the quintessential feminist, is hungry for life and can’t wait to begin her fantastic evolution from scratch with her new body, which to her represents “growing up” given the extraordinary adventures and experiences she experiences. Bella can’t resist being trapped in a house with her “inventor” and flees to Lisbon with unscrupulous lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) in a dystopian world. big Adventure which leads her to Paris, where she can also explore her sexuality.
Pablo Larrain, El Conde2023. Courtesy of Netflix.
Always following a fantastic and visionary story, in a gorgeous gothic black and white film that doesn’t make you regret the color, the film “El CondePablo Larraín – prize for best screenplay by Guillermo Calderon and Pablo Larraín – draws us into the black maelstrom of the story of the resurrected hundred-year-old Pinochet (Jaime Wadell), the general/dictator of Chile, who in the feature film is not dead, but he is a vampire who flies in the night, feeds human hearts and shares his terrible secret with his wife and the disturbing Russian butler. His five children lay claim to his hidden wealth and fight for his inheritance. Well worth a watch and coming soon to Netflix, the film is a heartbreaking farce with dry and wry dialogue, quotes from other famous directors, including F.W. Murnau from Nosferatu; an inexorable journey into the abyss of power and evil.
Wes Anderson, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar2023. Courtesy of Netflix.
Not in competition, but among the leaders, out of competition”The Wonderful Story of Henry SugarWes Anderson, a 40-minute short film based on a story by Roald Dahl. As always, the director amazes, intellectually stimulates the viewer, captivates with his palette of pastel colors, his surprises, inevitable narrative codes, animated sequences and performances that turn into paradoxical situations inside a live television studio. The director of The Grand Budapest Hotel tells the story of Englishman Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch), who meets a guru (Ben Kingsley) with extraordinary abilities in distant India. He can walk, but above all, he can read books blindfolded. The film, which unfolds as if it were a documentary, actually becomes the construct of an entertaining story that proliferates in many Chinese boxes. The narrative voice of the writer Dahl is the wonderful and gentle voice of Ralph Fiennes, who appears at the beginning of the story in his office, wearing slippers and sitting in a chair. Don’t miss it in theaters and on Netflix when it comes out.
Wes Anderson, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar2023. Courtesy of Netflix.
It is not one of the winners at the Venice Competition, but it is a film with a powerful, moving and dramatic story.”Great Dane ManLuc Besson – will be released in cinemas in October. The talented Caleb Landry Jones plays the title character Douglas, a social outcast living isolated in the company of many dogs, tormented by violent experiences and deep sentimental disappointments. Doug, who believes in dogs and not people, having lived many lives, is an extraordinary creation of the French director, captivating us with piercing melancholy and a deep sense of justice. AND, last but not leastSeventy stray dogs are just as exciting and wonderful, and it’s impossible not to get on their side like Doug does.
Luc Besson, Great Dane Man, 2023. Credits to Shanna Besson. Courtesy of Lucky Red
For those who love the music of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, the premiere of the film “Ryuichi Sakamoto | OpusThese were pure and nostalgic emotions. The film, included in the “Out of Competition” section, is a tribute by New Yorker and naturalized Japanese Neo Sora to the life of the composer, who died due to illness on March 28, 2023. An exquisite and beautiful film that documents the journey until his last concert of twenty works spanning his entire magnificent career, a path that took him from sophisticated pop through ambient to soundtracks such as Nagisa Oshima’s “Furyo” or Bernardo’s “Desert Tea” . Bertolucci. Shot with three cameras in 4K and featuring superb black-and-white photography by Bill Kirstein, the film is an intimate, unique and immersive encounter: a true gift that gives the magical feeling of being alone with the composer in his large studio, each person’s perception of his emotions, following behind the wrinkles of his thoughtful face, his half-closed eyes behind the iconic round glasses, his beautiful hands marked with years. The film was actually wanted and carefully curated by the composer himself together with the director and crew in 2022, when due to illness he could no longer perform live concerts. “From September 8 to September 15, 2022, I worked on something important to me: filming Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus“, the composer said in testimony presented in the presentation of the documentary. “The project aimed to record my compositions while I was still able to play, in order to save them for the future. For recording, we rented studio 509 of the NHK Broadcasting Center, a place that, in my opinion, offers the best acoustics in Japan.”
Neo Sora, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, 2023. Courtesy of Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus
In concluding this necessarily partial account of Venice 80, I would like to end with a story about this great artist, who is in a pleasant balance between East and West, to share, in addition to the beauty of his film and his innovative music, an absolutely fantastic experience that can only be had great cinema. theatrical release can be a gift, and Venice 80 celebrated its world premiere.
Manuela Teatini
Information:
80th Venice International Film Festival
labennalecinema.org
Manuela Teatini is a film director and journalist focused on the visual arts, particularly cinema, photography and contemporary art. For many years he has written articles as a freelancer for VOGUE, Uomo VOGUE, ELLE and other magazines about cinema, art and new trends. Author and director of documentaries “ART BACKSTAGE. Passion and vision” (2017), “MASIMO MININI. The story of a gallerist” (2019), “GIOVANNI BOLDINI. Pleasure. The Story of an Artist” (2021), awarded at the International Film Festival Terra di Siena 2021.