The acclaimed film in competition Armageddon Time , ovvero l’America degli anni Ottanta insieme a Les Harkis sulla drammatica guerra d’Algeria e le sue conseguenze nella sezione autonoma Quinzaine sono due film indimenticabili

(from Cannes Luigi Noera and Marina Pavido – Photos are courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival)
Un affresco dell’America degli anni Ottanta in una delicata storia famigliare – Armageddon Time
The story of a nation seen through the eyes of a single character. The 1980 è un anno a dir poco cruciale per quanto riguarda la storia degli Stati Uniti d’America. Alla vigilia dell’elezione a Presidente di Ronald Reagan, young Paul (played by Michael Banks Repeta) he attends a public school together with his friend Johnny (Jaylin Webb). Il ragazzo sogna di diventare artista, ma soltanto suo nonno materno (il grande Anthony Hopkins) sembra sostenerlo nelle sue speranze per il futuro. Tutti loro, therefore, sono i protagonisti di Armageddon Time, ultimo lungometraggio del regista James Gray, presentato in concorso a Cannes75.
Armageddon Time, therefore, è una delicata storia famigliare, in cui equilibri precari generano inevitabilmente un disperato desiderio di scappare via lontano. The American dream, unitamente ai desideri del giovane protagonista, gioca qui un ruolo a dir poco centrale.
Paul e Johnny sono due personaggi apparentemente agli antipodi (e, as we know, in un’epoca come la presente era pur sempre un problema essere considerato “different): the first comes from a wealthy family, that, malgrado faccia di tutto per garantirgli un futuro luminoso, non riesce mai realmente a comprendere i suoi bisogni. Johnny, instead, è un bambino di colore, che in seguito a determinate vicende, è costretto a vivere in strada.
Two worlds, two different realities that seem to never be able to meet due to, mostly, of what society expects of each of them. The political discourse adapts to the reality of individuals and what comes out of it is a variegated and colorful fresco of a crucial era for the United States of America (and not only). James Gray ha messo in scena ciò con raffinata maestria, giving us a rich and varied portrait of America in the 1980s. Il suo Armageddon Time è un vero e proprio fiore all’occhiello del concorso di Cannes75, as well as further confirmation of the talent of the American director.
La drammatica guerra d’Algeria e le sue conseguenze nel fim Les Harkis presentato alla Quinzaine
The Algerian War (1954 – 1962) caused thousands and thousands of deaths, especially among those who tried in every way to rebel against the French troops. Interrogations, torture, killings have been the hosts for many, many years, even after the ceasefire called by France. To tell that, dramatic historical moment, therefore, thought the director Philippe Faucon with his latest effort, The Harkis, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2022 all’interno della sezione Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
A man receives a basket with his son's severed head inside. His second son joins forces with the French liberation troops against the fallagha independence terrorists. They will be years of hard struggle that will last for many and many years and will also involve women and children.
Philippe Faucon has decided to stage this crucial historical period (focusing mainly on four particularly significant years, between 1959 and the 1962) opting for a simple and linear narrative, with a focus on specific events and long time jumps e, mostly, with a directorial approach devoid of any kind of virtuosity, where a montage (too much) net makes the feature film excessively fragmented at times.
The director points, therefore, to the essentials. Highly impactful scenes in which civilians are tortured or killed see in raw realism (e, sometimes, in a successful home run) a good solution. Il problema principale di un lavoro come il presente Les Harkis, however, lies precisely in a direction that is sometimes "naive", that, despite the good intentions, take risks, but also of hope, to make the entire feature film lose its credibility. Sin. Above all because the staged story undoubtedly has a strong appeal and the passion of those who made it all is definitely palpable..

Critics Week

Metsurin tarina (The Woodcutter Story) In The Woodcutter Story, therefore, the story staged is that of the carpenter Pepe, a serene and calm man who seems to ask nothing of life, if not to spend quiet days in his small village with his family. His inner calm does not seem to waver even when a series of misfortunes befall his life, completely upsetting any pre-established equilibrium.

Which, therefore, the meaning of life? With a subtle and refined black humor - typical of Scandinavian cinema - the director has created a small and precious feature film that, drawing heavily on what has been achieved in the past (complete with explicit references to films that have made the history of cinema) succeeds, at the same time, to find a language of its own and to give us a protagonist (played by the excellent Jarkko Lahti) that we will not easily forget.

marina fears