After the success of the Horror film, a reflection by the Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov opens. But also Pietro Marcello at the Quinzaine is the confirmation of the power of cinema.
(from Cannes Luigi Noera and Marina Pavido – Photos are courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival)
Amori impossibili e il ruolo della donna nella Russia dell’Ottocento – Tchaikovsky’s Wife – Kirill Serebrennikov non ha paura di osare, di “spiccare il volo”
The famous Russian composer Piotr Tchaikovsky had a very noteworthy personal life, though, to date, still unknown to most people. Staging his singular events - focusing his attention above all on the figure of his wife, Antonina Miliukova - thought the Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov, in corsa per la tanto ambita Palma d’Oro al Festival di Cannes 2022 con il suo Tchaikovsky’s Wife.
Antonina (personified by an extraordinary Alyona Mikhailova) knows the young composer (Odin Lund Biron) during a party at the house of mutual friends. The young woman - who in the meantime is studying at the conservatory where he teaches - immediately falls in love with him and decides, so, to write him a letter. After his initial hesitation, the two get married, but the composer always proves to be distant, to the point of deciding, just a few weeks after the wedding, to depart, with the intention of getting away from his wife permanently.
In Tchaikovsky’s Wife, the director - through the story of two individuals - opened a much broader discussion. The society of the time, the laws that seemed not to favor the position of the woman at all, but also homosexuality and the need to "hide" one's sexual orientation, therefore, they are the absolute protagonists here. Protagonists of an important insight into Russia's past, what if, on one side, it stands out for a script that is, after all, linear and devoid of particular flashes, on the other, it is immediately striking for the extreme care of the staging.
Kirill Serebrennikov is not afraid to dare, to "take flight" from raw realism, drawing heavily on the dreamlike and the supernatural (we can see it already in the opening scene, when Piotr Tchaikovsky, now on his deathbed, he suddenly gets up to rail against his wife, as well as in the moments when the woman - now in the grip of madness - finds herself wandering alone through the streets of the city). In the same way, intense close-ups on details (like a photograph or a wedding ring) and on the faces of the protagonists they give power and humanity to this important feature film.
And then there's you, the outstanding Alyona Mikhailova in the title role. She is responsible for supporting the entire feature film on her shoulders. To her the task of giving us a vivid and pulsating portrait of the unfortunate and irremediably in love Antonina Miliukova. Composed and never over the top, the actress managed to fully convey the joy of the early days, but also the pains of love and - above all - the madness of a woman mistreated by her husband and society, vero e proprio fiore all’occhiello di questo raffinato Tchaikovsky’s Wife.
The important documentary produced by Forest Whitaker – For the Sake of Peace – un imperativo per il Festival di Cannes
Actor Forest Whitaker will receive the Palme d'Or of Honor at the Cannes Film Festival 2022. A great achievement for the famous American interpreter, undoubtedly. and yet, this is not the only satisfaction for him. On the opening day of the famous film event, indeed, Whitaker ha presentato in qualità di produttore – nella sezione Séances Spéciales – il documentario For the Sake of Peace, debut film by directors Christophe Castagne and Thomas Sametin, in which a powerful message of hope is also transmitted through a dramatic contemporary situation.
In South Sudan for years a war has been fought which has divided the population in two and as a result of which thousands and thousands of people have lost their lives. Despite the end of the conflict, however, there is still a lot of hostility between the two factions. In order to resolve such hostilities forever, There are, But, two central figures who with their tenacity and their ideals have made several steps forward: Gatjang - who for years has been trying to convey values such as teamwork and respect for others through football - and Nandege - a young mother who has been a mediator for a long time, in order to foster dialogue between peoples.
the city of Thessaloniki is the setting for a recent tragedy that many seem to have forgotten, therefore, in their important documentary, they followed their stories and activities step by step, letting the same protagonists tell their adventures and tell themselves in turn in front of the camera. An undoubtedly interesting operation, the present. Especially since the subject is unfortunately, today again, unknown to most.
Il problema principale di un documentario come For the Sake of Peace, But, it is an overly didactic directorial approach, which strongly penalizes what is staged, the stories of individuals, the environments visited from time to time. In the same way, a music that is sometimes too invasive does nothing but give the whole an almost television character, that, your back, makes the whole job lose its bite dangerously. Sin. Especially since the two leading figures are undoubtedly characters with captivating verve and undisputed magnetism. For the Sake of Peace sicuramente è mosso da buoni intenti. The two directors should learn to "let go", without being afraid to dare with their camera. We will have to see what they will be able to give us in the future.
Legami famigliari e un futuro tutto da scoprire – L’Envol – presentato alla Quinzaine come film d’apertura
The Italian filmmaker Pietro Marcello is a real source of pride as regards contemporary Italian cinema. After the successes of Lost and Beautiful (2015) and Martin Eden (2019) here he arrives at the Croisette with his latest effort: Flight, opening film of the Directors’ Fortnight of the 75° Festival di Cannes.
The story staged, therefore, is that of the young Juliette (personified by Juliette Jouan), which, orphaned of a swaddled mother, he lives in a small town in the north of France with his father Raphaël (Raphael Thiery), a taciturn man, as well as an extraordinarily talented carpenter, veteran from the First World War. Still a child, Juliette meets a sorceress in the woods who predicts that one day some "scarlet sails" will arrive in her village to take her away.. This bizarre prophecy will never come true?
L’Envol è la storia di un tenero rapporto tra padre e figlia, but also the portrait of ancient popular beliefs, which in turn opens an important discourse on diversity and marginalization. Juliette, as a child, she is bullied by her peers because of a gesture made by her father years ago in order to take revenge on a man who, in its time, he raped his wife. When the years go by, however, the town seems to have forgotten what happened and Juliette, now a young woman who makes toys for a living, demonstrates an extraordinary talent for music. His world seems almost a reality unto itself. A reality that never seems to be scratched by what happens outside and that, despite adversity, succeeds (quasi) always to maintain one's own balance.
Pietro Marcello is attentive to every little detail, manages to create strongly evocative atmospheres, where the calm of a sunny day in early summer can only be scratched by flames that illuminate a seemingly peaceful night. Saturated colors and a deliberately rough photograph, rough, able to give three-dimensionality to everything filmed do the rest. Tragedies and moments of happy meditation, reality, ma anche un velo di magia rendono il presente L’Envol una vera e propria chicca di questa 75° edizione del Festival di Cannes e confermano ancora una volta lo straordinario talento di Pietro Marcello. Once again, the director and documentary maker from Naples hit the mark perfectly.
E terminiamo con lo sguardo alla Semaine de la Critique, sezione autonoma del Festival:
Grand opening on Wednesday 18 May for the Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival 2022. On this day, indeed, the feature films When you finish saving the World were screened, debut feature by actor Jesse Eisenberg, and living soul, first feature film by Franco-Portuguese director Cristèle Alves Meira. Two beginnings, two glimpses of different worlds, an important common denominator: the delicate family relationships with all their many facets.
Un delicato rapporto madre-figlio e antiche tradizioni popolari – When you finish saving the World e Alma Viva
In When you finish saving the World, the fragile relationship between a career mother and an adolescent son is brought to the fore, both with noble intentions to make the world "a better place", but that, at the same time they struggle to find communication channels in everyday life. Evelyn (personified by Julienne Moore) she works in a shelter that takes care of young mothers in difficulty. His son Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard) he writes songs and has a youtube channel where he performs, often live, for his fans.
The two protagonists initially seem to be the polar opposite. Then, slowly, they find they have a lot more in common than it initially seems. A pretty simple story, which has already been staged over and over again over the years. Even - as in this case - within American independent feature films, many of which have also met with some success. Even without particular flashes, But, Jesse Eisenberg did an overall clean job, for a simple and delicate feature film that sees its greatest strength in a subtle game of glances between mother and child during which there is no need for any words.
Of a very different kind, instead, è Alma viva. Set in a small Portuguese village, the feature film sees in little Salomé (personified by an extraordinary Lua Michel, daughter of the director) and its great strengths in suggestive popular traditions. Like every summer, the little girl - who lives in France with her parents - goes on vacation to her mother's village. Here the traditions related to the death of a person and the reincarnation of his spirit in other inhabitants of the house are still very strong. When his beloved grandmother suddenly dies, even little Salomé seems to be in the grip of an unusual possession, almost as if her grandmother wanted revenge on an envious neighbor.
Un potente realismo magico rende questo piccolo e importante lungometraggio di ancora più prezioso e fa sì che alcune perdonabili “ingenuità registiche” passino (quasi) unnoticed. Stories of ancient traditions, of bizarre popular beliefs, but also of three female generations and their role within society (“The independent woman, and to, she is always accused of being a witch ") are the absolute protagonists. Cristèle Alves Meira pleasantly surprised the audience of the Croisette. Who knows what other beautiful surprises it will have in store for us in the future.
marina fears