There is a legend, typical of film festivals, which wants films from Palmares to generally pass the last day.
In the case of this 79th Venice International Film Festival, a legend that seems to come true:
THE BEARS DON'T EXIST
by Jafar Panahi, passed today and signed by the Iranian director currently in prison, seems to place a nice mortgage on the upper floors of the prizes of Venice 2022 and on the same Golden Lion.
Who would not reward a film, directed remotely, and which tells of the Iranian regime's repression of a director who does not flee and fights?
On the eve of the award ceremony, two other works are in pole position:
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
by Martin McDonagh, grotesque and allegorical comedy noir with the extraordinary duet between Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson (both from Coppa Volpi) and
SAINT HOMER
by the newcomer Alice Diop with the story of a true story that shocked France in 2016. That is a Senegalese woman, accused of killing her fifteen-month-old daughter, abandoning her on a beach in the north of France, but totally devoid of any empathy.
Attention also to
THE WHALE
by Darren Aronofski starring Charlie, obese of over 250 kilos, struggling with thoughts of death and the desire to recover his daughter Ellie.
In addition to the solidity of the film on the pitch, the extraordinary protagonist Brendan Fraser could deservedly enter the Coppa Volpi.
Then there is
ARGENTINA, 1985
, a political dramedy in which the true story of the young lawyers Julio Strassera and Luis Moreno Ocampo is told, who dared to investigate the bloody military dictatorship that subjugated Argentina from 1976 to 1983. bombs and death threats.
The actor Ricardo Darín was very great.
For refined palates there is also
LOVE LIFE
by Kôji Fukada.
The protagonist is Taeko, a serene and strong woman whose life apparently flows quietly next to her husband and little son Keita.
A happy family until a dramatic event causes Keita's father to return to the woman's life.
One thing not without consequences.
Also worth considering is
BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTH
S by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the story of a Mexican journalist and documentary maker struggling with identity and family relationships.
It's Italy?
On paper, the favorite seems to be
BONES AND ALL
by Luca Guadagnino, a cannibal coming age starring two cool youngsters, like Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet, struggling with identity problems.
Instead, Gianni Amelio was placed with
IL SIGNORE DELLE ANT
, with the figure of the playwright and poet Aldo Braibanti, and
MONICA
di Pallaoro, for many the best of the Italians who took to the field, also thanks to the protagonist, the transsexual actress Trace Lysette.
Finally, for the Coppa Volpi for women, Tilda Swinton, double protagonist in
THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER
and Cate Blanchett conductor of the orchestra in
TAR, should be mentioned.