“
Resilience
”, “
miracle
”… These words often come up in the mouths of the organizers of the Venice Film Festival.
Inaugurated today, Wednesday September 2, to end on September 12, the 77th Mostra is the first major international meeting of the film industry to be held “in physics” since the Covid-19.
A special edition, with drastic health measures (wearing a mask compulsory, capacity of the screening rooms reduced to 50%, seat reservation) and many absent.
Starting with the big American studios which are usually the heyday of the Lido.
With the postponement of the releases and the Oscars, they made the deadlock.
Just like Netflix, yet hosted here in competition, unlike Cannes.
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Sign of these difficult times, the director of the Mostra Alberto Barbera invited seven of his European counterparts to open this edition with a manifesto during the gala evening on Wednesday evening: Thierry Frémaux (Cannes), Lili Hinstin (Locarno), Vanja Kaludjeric (Rotterdam), Karel Och (Karlovy Vary), José Luis Rebordinos (San Sebastian), Tricia Tuttle (London) and Carlo Chatrian (Berlin).
The latter two were not present at the press conference given at noon, where Barbera underlined "
a positive effect of confinement: dialogue, numerous exchanges between us to face an unprecedented situation.
"
Cinema, an issue of civilization
Because it is not the eight bastards of Tarantino but rather the eight brave who signed the peace to fight against a common enemy: the Covid-19.
And put the cinema at the center of the game. They who usually don't give themselves freebies have put their rivalry aside.
We were able to hear "
Merci Alberto
" in several languages.
"
It is not for ourselves that we have tried to exist but for the works and the authors confronted with a great loneliness
", explained Thierry Frémaux.
Everyone celebrated the power of cinema, a stake in civilization, and swore that nothing would be the same again.
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Tenet
reassures the world of cinema
Fortunately, Barbera recalled that Frémaux had been his friend for 30 years.
The chances that this good agreement will be shattered as soon as it returns to normal remain high.
To the soothing discourse we prefer healthy competition, even the twisted blows that festival directors make to have the best films and the biggest stars.
It is not Cate Blanchett who will say the opposite.
Two years after having chaired the jury in Cannes, the Australian actress occupies the same chair this year in Venice.
"
A privilege, a pleasure and an honor,
" she said at the press conference.
"
Venice is a hope and a challenge for the film industry
", she added, happy to reconnect with the profession.
She said nothing about her chainsaw accident during confinement but made this confession: "
I only talked to my chickens and pigs for six months, I'm happy to talk to human beings again. .
"
All these fine speeches would almost make you forget that the first images were projected on the Lido.
Lacci
, Daniele Luccheti's film, opened the way out of competition.
It had been eleven years since an Italian feature film had experienced such exposure.
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Taken from a novel by Domenico Starnone (the writer for a time suspected of being the author of Elena Ferrante's novels), it tells the turpitudes of a couple formed by Aldo (Luigi Lo Cascio young, Silvio Orlando old) and Vanda (young Alba Rohrwacher, old Laura Morante), between the 1980s and today, between Naples and Rome.
He is a radio journalist infatuated with a young and pretty mistress, she is the borderline type.
They tear themselves apart under the gaze of their children, Sandro and Anna.
The line is not very fine, the narration a little unnecessarily complicated and the outcome a bit moralizing.
A year ago, on the same theme and in the same place, Noah Baumbach was heartbreaking with
Marriage story
.
Venice, city of love?
To others.