While in the Sala Grande and surrounding areas film critics, moviegoers and directors are engaged in bloody verbal battles to attack and/or defend titles at the Venice 80 competition, a few tens of meters away, in the Sala Perla, which still smells of recent events. restructuring, the twentieth edition of the Giornate degli Autori came to life.
Modeled after the Cannes Film Festival’s “Directors’ Biweeks”, this well-organized review since 2004 has sought to promote innovative and young cinema through a large number of screenings, workshops and events aimed at stimulating an ongoing and stimulating dialogue. between cinema and the public. In order to stimulate a fresh perspective, there is a jury composed of very young people, consisting of 27 young enthusiasts of the seventh art, each representing one of the 27 member states of the European Union. As part of the official selection of the competition, ten author’s feature films were identified, which occupy a special stage within the framework of the Festival, annually forming a thematic program linking all productions. In particular, this edition revolves around the theme of the gift: who donates blood, who has an ear ready to listen, and who, like the protagonist MELK (“MILK”), donates mother’s milk.
Among the most noteworthy films of this edition, MELK is the first feature film by the Dutchwoman Stephanie Kolk. A drama that finds expression in the agonizing silence of Robin, a young woman forced to face the pain of losing her stillborn baby months after her pregnancy ended. The process of mourning is complicated by the arrival of abundant frothed mother’s milk, the only tangible reminder of lost motherhood. With the support of her partner Jonas, Robin decides to donate her mother’s milk to help other new mothers… but difficulties will put Robin on a difficult path. Elegant and meaningful direction, rich acting and a script that makes us think about painful problems: one can only hope that this film will find a place in some corner of the Italian cinema.
PASS AND REJECT (OFFICIAL SELECTION VENICE 80)
El Conde – Rejected: Pablo Larraín dresses the dictator Augusto Pinochet as Count Dracula in a horror satire about a force that can transform and regenerate itself in various forms, with no care for man at all, despising the difference between good and evil and, ultimately, only adherents of his omnivorous selfishness. . Good idea, poorly chosen genre, execution bordering on boredom.
Ferrari – promotion: American Michael Mann tries his hand at Enzo Ferrari’s very Italian story: between very heavy mourning and family squabbles, accurate scenery and spectacular narration of the Italian historical context of the 60s, Mann hits the mark and returns us pleasant and well executed. Slightly out of focus is the portrayal of Adam Driver as Ferrari, the perfect Penélope Cruz as his wife Laura.
Maria Letizia Cilea
Martina Bazzanella