They are two surnames with their own weight, two habitués of Cannes, but that never reached the recognition of the respective Juries that touched them in luck. The Texan Wes Anderson and the Italian Marco Bellocchio coincided in the day of the competition, but with two works -Asteroid City and a cast with Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Adrien Brody and dozens of stars, and Rapito-.
Two films that, for different reasons, ended up closer to disappointment than acceptance. The films of both could not be more different. Well, the world of Wes Anderson is unique, unrepeatable and distinguishable, as we said yesterday, like that of Aki Kaurismäki -another who is a fixed number in Cannes, and who also did not win the Palme d'Or-.
Asteroid City takes place in the '50s – again, like Kaurismäki's cinema, much of its iconography and scenery seems imbued with that decade – in the place of the title. A meteorite fell there years ago, and different families arrive there with their genius children, to participate in a science contest, in the very place where the US Government spends its time conducting atomic tests.
Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and director Wes Anderson. Many stars for "Asteroid City". AP Photo
And, nestled in the middle of nowhere, in the Texas desert, the place will have another visitor: an alien.
The scenographic devices – everything was shot on a set, in Spain – and the color palette were always Anderson's engine, but here what is missed is the substance. Everything is very elaborate, but what is missing is not cohesion between so many characters, but an attractive content.
Hanks, Johansson, Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman. They saw someone they knew, and they greet him. Photo Reuters
To those already mentioned add Bryan Cranston, Jason Schwartzman (with Johansson are the ones who have more room for the show), Steve Carell, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Maya Hawke, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Hope Davis (Succession), Matt Dillon, Margot Robbie, Rupert Friend and if I forget someone, blame the space.
Bellocchio and a kidnapped
Almost 30 years more than the 54 that Anderson accuses Marco Bellocchio has. Eighth opportunity in which the director of Vincere, The Devil in the Body and Leap into the Void enters the main competition, the veteran director returns to delve into the past, and with a real event, known as the Mortara Case, which at the time was one of the criticisms that received the beatification of Pius IX, by John Paul II.
Enea Sala, Barbara Ronchi and director Marco Bellocchio, on the night of Cannes. AFP Photo
In 1858 the civil authorities of the Papal States withdrew parental authority from the parents of a 6-year-old boy, Edgardo Mortara, who were Jewish. They said the boy had been baptized as a Christian, and he was placed in an institution of Catholic education. Just in case, they baptized him again.
As the years passed and he had the possibility of reuniting with his family – those were times when the Papal States were about to fall, and the entry of the Piedmontese army would end the sovereignty in Rome of the Popes – the young Edgardo rejected him and was ordained a priest.
Little Enea Sala, Barbara Ronchi and Paolo Pierobon, Pope Pius IX in the film, at the press conference. Photo EFE
Bellocchio was always about filming and telling with thick strokes, whether they are sex stories, political or religious dramas. But he used to deliver hard-hitting stories. Here the Pope (Paolo Pierobon, who can play Silvio Berlusconi as much as Gabriele D'Annunzio) is always perspirouting, with a certain sweat running down his face. He gets angry and blushing, and the whole film follows a predictable path.
"Rapito" (Kidnapped) is the 83-year-old Italian's eighth film to compete for the Palme d'Or. Photo Reuters
Stylistically in Rapito (Kidnapped) the Italian resorts to an overloaded and loud music to emphasize what was no longer needed, when he does not appeal to a certain magical realism in which the Pope has nightmares, or Edgardo pulls out the nails of Christ, and frees him.
Widely revered – some applauded when his name appeared in the opening titles, as actors are received in plays when they step on stage at the first opportunity – it is difficult for this film at times routine and that detracts from its author to arouse enthusiasm beyond fanaticism for the director.
Special Envoy
See also