The master’s latest screenplay for the second Italian film in competition which, despite the notable cast, lacks narrative strength. The diva: «Rejected by Hollywood, I feel welcomed internationally»
Susan Sarandon it is light in Venice, with that generous smile and gentle irony. She who Bernardo Bertolucci He esteemed him and knew him well, collects his cinematic testament. But the fiery diva is not enough to ignite The Echo Chamber by Andrea Pallaoro, which slowly vegetates for about two hours, dragging itself until the longed-for finale, greeted in the first screening for the press with a loud sigh of relief.
After the good performance of Nanni Moretti with It will happen tonightwhich debuted yesterday at the Lido, the second Italian film in competition stumbles. Despite a notable cast: alongside Sarandon, Luca Marinelli And Alicia Vikander.
Bertolucci’s latest screenplay
The Echo Chamber brings Bernardo Bertolucci’s latest screenplay to the cinema. It was the end of 2017 when the maestro contacted the screenwriters Ilaria Bernardini And Ludovica Rampoldi to tell them about an idea he wanted to make a film from. «It was the story of a man and a woman who live in the same apartment but never meet and almost don’t know of each other’s existence», Rampoldi says at the Lido. In November 2018, on the very day the email arrived with the English translation of the script, the news of Bertolucci’s death also broke.
This orphaned director’s script, which had remained stagnant for years, then found its voice in Andrea Pallaoroa regular director at the Venice Film Festival, where he has brought all his previous films (Medeas, Hannah, Monica). But the Trentino director trained in the States does not find Bertolucci’s stratification of atmospheres and sense of shots. The thoughtful, static shots echo not with poetry but with relentless boredom.
The obsession of pain
The Echo Chamber it is shot entirely inside a large and spectacular contemporary apartment made of wood and windows. There are only three characters in all: the grief-stricken music producer Leo, played by Marinelli; his beloved Anne, embodied by Vikander, who is nice to find again in Venice and on the big screen; the iconic singer who re-emerges from her regal silence who could only be Sarandon. To tell the truth, however, everything and everything seems to revolve wearily around Leo. Or his haunting pain. “My destruction might be exactly what I want,” he says.
The story, lacking Bertolucci’s depth of vision, remains sparse and uninteresting. Until the ending between the predictable and the artificial.
«Inheriting the latest script from a legendary voice like Bertolucci entailed a great responsibility but I understood that the way to honor its essence was to let it filter through my sensitivity and at the same time protect the sensitivity of all the great artists who contributed to creating it”, said Pallaoro on the Lido. «One of the main reasons why I agreed to direct it was the awareness of the support of Ludovica and Ilaria. I immediately perceived that there were themes close to me: the identity of the individual and of a couple, the nuances of love, the need for control and to take care of the other.”
Sarandon and the studio ostracism
Susan Sarandon knew Bertolucci well. «When I saw The conformist I didn’t know that cinema could also do this: it was different from what I had seen until then, completely different from American films”, recalls the actress of Thelma & Louise And The customer. «Then we became friends, following my relationship with Louis Malle, but I met a completely different person from the one who made these films. I reviewed The conformist with my son and it’s such a modern film. The cameras are placed poetically and beautifully. Similarly, on the set of The Echo Chamberin this apartment, I was wondering where the lights were because the director managed to create this very European sensibility to tell a story through images.”
Sarandon also sings in the film competing for the Golden Lion. But she revealed: “I don’t sing so I felt very vulnerable.” The original songs and music are by Clément DucolOscar winner for best original song with the song El Mal of the film Emilia Pérez.
It is no coincidence that Sarandon finds himself today in a European film, an Italian-Belgian co-production. Last November, in fact, she was fired from her agency after her public position on the war in Gaza and the appeal for a ceasefire. In Venice she returned to the topic: «In the meantime I believe that the narrative has changed completely with respect to the historical importance of Palestine. Zionist ties to America and our politics are now known, with the revelation of the huge amount of money the US gives to Israel. There is a change in understanding of the situation, but still positions are very firm within the film industry. There are agencies that tell directors not to give me roles. And this also applies to other actors. But on an international level I feel welcomed. I found my family and my people and I’m very well.”
The Echo Chamber will arrive in Italian cinemas from September 10th.
