Behind the triumph of May el-Toukhy and international praise, Venice certifies the detachment of Italian films from real world themes.
The answer is no. A no across the board. A big no. Without appeal. Italian cinema leaves the Lido of Venice empty handed. We are talking about the competition for Golden Lionwhere the failure is total and some prizes in the secondary sections are certainly not enough (Riccardo Scamarciobest actor of Orizzonti in Children of the Monkey) to compensate for an unequivocal verdict.
After the Berlin and Cannes festivals had ignored our directors, we wondered whether the entry of five Italian films in the competition, out of a total of 20, was the sign of a rebirth or, at least, of an awakening. The most competent sector journalists wondered, hopefully, whether this Venice Film Festival would decree the redemption of Italcinema. The answer is no. Zero titles. It is the first news resulting from the verdict of the jury chaired by the American director and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal (and composed by Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To).
The choice of May el-Toukhy and the author’s awards
The Golden Lion for best film goes to Kvinde Ukendt (Woman unknow) by May el-Toukhya work that narrates the attempt at redemption by Marie, a maid who is about to marry the rich widower she works for when, from her past, an unspeakable secret emerges: during the war she had an affair with a German soldier. Mathilde Arcel who plays her also wins the Volpi Cup for best female performance. The double award to the same film indicates the jury’s precise desire to give resonance to this dramatic story which puts women’s bodies at the centre, inspired by the investigative book War Does Not Have a Woman’s Face (Bompiani) by the Belarusian Nobel Prize-winning writer Svetlana Alexievich.
The Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize goes to Possible love by Lee Chang-donga film about the story of two couples, one made up of an unemployed worker and his wife, and the other a documentary filmmaker and her husband, who get to know each other through the making of a film that addresses the difficulties of the world of work in contemporary Korean society. The Silver Lion for best director goes to Dau, the existential blockbuster by the Russian dissident director Ilya Khrzhanovskyunjustifiably opposed by the Ukrainian government, which runs through the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1968. As announced, John Malkovich he takes the Volpi Cup as best actor for the role of the CIA agent in Martin McDonagh’s beautiful Wild Horse Nine and thanks, moved, via video link from Montreal where he is shooting a new film. The award for best screenplay was won by Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo and Olivier Gorce for the film Un bon petit soldat, the story of a human resources manager, well played by Alba Rohrwacher, of a large insurance company who must relaunch itself with a new promotional campaign, which is actually contradicted in her daily behaviour.
The Naza case and the Great Hall verdict
The Special Jury Prize goes to Naza, the documentary filmed by the two Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor who, guaranteeing their anonymity, interviewed 24 members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s intelligence, to learn about the techniques for killing Hamas militants even at the cost of hitting civilian victims. It is a lower recognition than the expectations of a large part of the press and the public who, at the screening in the Sala Grande, had given him 25 minutes of applause. Also the artistic director Alberto Barbera he had strongly wanted it in the competition: «First of all, because it is real cinema, not just a string of disguised interviews with a series of people», he had said earlier in the day, speaking to a group of journalists. «And then because we live in a world situation that to define as catastrophic is an understatement. A tragic situation. And in the face of certain events it is difficult to remain neutral.” However, despite recognizing its value, the documentary produced by the Guardian is a political work, denied by the spokespersons of the Israeli Defense Forces: “The IDF strikes military targets making unprecedented efforts to minimize damage to civilians.” Finally, Malou Khebizi wins the Marcello Mastroianni award for emerging actor/actress for her performance in 15/18 A place to heal by Cédric Kahn.
The prizes were awarded during the closing evening, hosted by Greta Scarano and Nicolas Maupas along the lines of cinematographic quotes, in which Francesca Michielin performed. And in which the imaginative president of the Venice Biennale Foundation Pietrangelo Buttafuoco thanked the artistic director Barbera, the Ministry of Culture, the city of Venice, the Veneto Region, the public and the artists.
The merciless comparison with international cinemas
Overall, with the awards for the female history of Woman unknow, for Possible love which illuminates the distortions of the job market in the East, for the film on the contradictions between the image and the reality of a large contemporary European company, it is a verdict with a strong social tone.
Returning to look at the Italian debacle, the final rejection it affects everyone. The venerated masters and the promising young people failed. Rejected RaiCinema which produced and co-produced all the works in competition, and perhaps we will need to draw conclusions on this too, considering that it is a public company. And then the whole circle failed. What can I say? Nothing, that’s right. Considering the level of the works, there is really little to be surprised about. During the Festival, it was disheartening to compare it with other cinemas. Physically closed inside the house and psychologically withdrawn into exhausting discussions or enigmatic silences, our films seemed sidereally distant from both Asian and European productions, French in particular. But above all, what’s worse, Italcinema’s works were far from the real ones contemporary problems. There’s a lot to think about.
