The actor Timothée Chalamet, in 'Dune', by Denis Villeneuve.
Any movie buff loves theaters. And, of course, he missed them when the coronavirus shut them down. Cinemas languished abandoned, and viewers flocked to their couches and digital platforms. But even now that most have reopened, the seats are barely filled. Maybe it's the comfort of home, or fear. Or the little stimulating billboard - which is due to another fear: the big studios keep putting off their releases. To stop the vicious circle, the Venice Film Festival proposes from this Wednesday an injection of optimism. And a real movie marathon. More than half of the films in the official competition, inaugurated by Pedro Almodóvar with
Parallel Mothers
, last
two hours.
On the Job: The Missing 8,
by Erik Matti, it even reaches 208 minutes (3 hours and 28 minutes).
Hence, the public and cinemas have the opportunity to fully re-embrace.
Faced with nostalgia for the big screen, after all, what better remedy than a long reunion.
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The artistic director of the festival, Alberto Barbera, is “shocked” by the number of films that have been received “of surprising length”: “In the selection, there are many films of more than two and a half hours. I think it can be a reflection of the series and their success, as if the directors took more time to tell their stories now that they also have the option of doing it by chapters and several have also worked for television. So much so that cinema has invaded the traditional space that Venice dedicates precisely to series: this year, the only representative will be the new version of
Secrets of a marriage
by Ingmar Bergman, directed by Hagai Levi.
The seventh art, after all, is in need of affection and attention. And the oldest film festival in the world also knows of tumultuous times: its foundations were already shaken by World War II, or '68. So last year, La Mostra resisted the coronavirus and held a risky face-to-face edition. Without great divos, but with a message: the cinema goes on. Now, Venice raises the stakes: even the stars are back. Paolo Sorrentino, Paul Schrader, Pablo Larraín and Jane Campion are some of the filmmakers who will compete for the Golden Lion, which will be announced on September 11 by a jury chaired by Bong Joon-ho, the Oscar-winning creator of
Parasites
. Actors such as Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Isaac or Kristen Stewart will disembark at the Lido, which will host Disney, Netlix, Sony or Universal productions and one of the most anticipated premieres of the season: the new adaptation of
Dune,
by Denis Villeneuve. Another work, by the way, mammoth: 155 minutes.
The covid also knows of duration.
And the evolution of the pandemic has frustrated the reopening that the organizers dreamed of: the capacity of the screenings remains at 50%, and to access it will be mandatory to be vaccinated or have carried out a PCR test with a negative result.
There will be less promotion, some telematic interview, but the contest will not give up the red carpet.
Nor to the ambition to continue his fight with Cannes for the throne of film festivals.
On the table, the Mostra displays notable cards.
And many bear the stamp of Spain or Latin America.
Trailer of 'Parallel Mothers'.
Almodóvar returns as a consecrated filmmaker to the place where he started his festival tour, back in 1983, with
Entre tinieblas
. Now, with
Parallel Mothers
, the intertwined drama of two women, aspires to one of the few accolades missing from its curriculum. Penélope Cruz, star of the film along with the young Milena Smit, will also shine in another feature film that pursues the Golden Lion:
Official Competition
, a satire on the egos of the film world, directed by the Argentines Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, which tells with Banderas and Óscar Martínez in its cast. The Chilean Larraín is measured with a princely expectation: his film
, Spencer,
Imagine the weekend Lady Di decided to part ways with the Prince of Wales. The Mexican Michel Franco will screen
Sundown
, after the controversial reception of his wild
New Order
last year. And the Venezuelan Lorenzo Vigas returns to where his career took off: his debut,
From There,
triumphed in Venice in 2015. So
La caja
, his second film, will attract many eyes.
The Italian Paolo Sorrentino also needed more than two hours to narrate
It was the hand of God.
How not to understand him: it is the story of his youth.
And of the tragic premature disappearance of his parents.
The competition promises more hard blows: American Paul Schrader films revenge and crime in
The Card Counter;
French Audrey Diwan recounts a girl's struggle to get an abortion in
The Event
;
New Zealander Jane Campion adapts
Thomas Savage's
violent novel
The Power of the Dog
;
the American Maggie Gyllenhaal brings to the cinema another book difficult to digest:
The Dark Daughter
, by Elena Ferrante;
and the French Xavier Giannoli concentrates on the screen in 144 minutes the famous work of Balzac
Illusions Perdues.
A still from 'It was the hand of God', by Paolo Sorrentino.
The horror of the Stalin purges echoes in the two hours of
Captain Volkonogov Escaped
, by the Russians Natasha Merkulova and Aleskey Chupov, and another denunciation of Soviet terror occupies the 160 minutes of
Leave no Traces
, by the Polish Jan P. Matuszynski.
Reflection
, by the Ukrainian Valentyn Vasyanovych, talks about the military war and
Un autre monde
, by the Frenchman Stéphane Brizé, delves into another conflict: the labor one.
Qui rido io
, by Italian Mario Martone, on the other hand, promises to bring out a smile, with his tragicomic portrait of the famous Neapolitan comedian Eduardo Scarpetta, in another footage over two hours.
As in any festival that is respected, there will be much more: documentaries dedicated to Leonard Cohen or Led Zeppelin,
The Last Duel
, the latest work by Ridley Scott, honors awards to Roberto Benigni and Jamie Lee Curtis or a film tribute to the late maestro Ennio Morricone. And
Le 7 giornate di Bergamo will
remind the whole world of the drama of one of the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus. Impossible, in reality, to forget such recent injuries. But La Mostra at least proposes a group therapy: get together in a room and get excited. They call it movie magic.