Kaurismaki strikes again

(from Cannes Luigi Noera and Marina Pavido – Photos are courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival)

On this seventh day of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, a small miracle happened: Aki Kaurismaki, for forty years, by now, one of the most interesting authors of contemporary world cinema, presented Fallen Leaves in competition, his latest, which delighted the Croisette audience. Anyway, here is a brief overview of the main feature films presented today in Cannes.

COMPETITION

CLUB ZERO di Jessica HAUSNER

I usually carry out an analysis of the world and the society in which we live with a critical and attentive gaze, the Austrian director Jessica Hausner has arrived at Cannes 76 to present in the competition after several unsuccessful movie releases with different titles Zero, his latest. who, through the significant metaphor of food, an extremely current issue that concerns is analyzed, in particular, people's need to embrace "extreme" causes in order to assert themselves, one way or another, your own identity.

Miss Novak (played by Mia Wasikowska), therefore, she is a young and charismatic teacher just hired in a prestigious private high school, where he will hold a food education course. A group of students, each with a different motivation, will attend his course, who, however, will take increasingly extreme turns, to the point of touching the most wicked fanaticism.

after several unsuccessful movie releases with different titles Zero, therefore, starts from an incredibly powerful and decidedly current idea, here declined according to the pregnant metaphor of food. The staging adopted by Jessica Hausner, perfectly in line with his entire filmography, it is rigorous and perfect in every single shot, also made so by a skilful use of colors and music, which here almost take on the connotations of a funeral march.

and yet, despite everything, in the second half of the film, the director often tends dangerously to repeat herself, complete with sporadic moments that are at times excessively gratuitous. That said, after several unsuccessful movie releases with different titles Zero However, it is undoubtedly an interesting film, albeit minor compared to other feature films that have deservedly made her famous throughout the world.

FALLEN LEAVES di Aki CAPRICORN MAKI

Among the most anticipated feature films in competition Cannes 76 there is undoubtedly Fallen Leaves, the latest work by acclaimed Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki. And indeed, this feature film immediately won over audiences and critics since its first screening on the Croisette. Strengthened by what the director himself has achieved in the past, Fallen Leaves develops on different spatio-temporal levels, starting, in reality, from a simple yet poetic love story.

A man and a woman (whose names are only rarely mentioned during the vision) they live on the extreme outskirts of Helsinki and are basically two lonely people. One evening, by chance, they meet during a karaoke evening and between them it is love at first sight. Their story, however, will struggle to take off due to a series of unfortunate events that will constantly tend to push them apart.

Fallen Leaves, therefore, It immediately stands out for its timeless setting, in which the houses have excessively dated furniture and there is none (quasi) no trace of technology whatsoever. Only the news on the radio, from time to time, they take us back to our times, updating us on the current situation in Ukraine. For the rest, within a staging made up of predominantly static shots, of clear and saturated colors and a constant Brechtian estrangement performed by the actors, we are given the powerful image of a world in which there seems to be no consideration whatsoever for the human being as such, where you are almost like leaves in the wind, at the mercy of every most unpredictable event.

In staging all of this, Kaurismaki hasn't forgotten his either (it's ours) beloved cinema. A small suburban cinema where almost exclusively classics from the past are shown acts as an essential link between the two protagonists, able to find each other and find each other there even though they don't know each other's names. Aki Kaurismaki once again hits the mark. And with this small but complex work of his he gave us one of the most beautiful visions of Cannes 76.

IN SOME PERSPECTIVE

THE SETTLERS by Felipe GÁLVEZ

Tierra del Fuego, Republic of Chile, 1901. An immense and fertile territory that the white aristocracy seeks to conquer “civilize”. Three knights are hired by a rich landowner, Jose Menendez, to expropriate indigenous populations of their lands and open a route to the Atlantic. Under the command of Lieutenant MacLennan, a British soldier, and an American mercenary, the young Chilean mestizo Segundo discovers the price of building a young nation, the price of blood and lies. Luigi Noera saw it for us (REVIEW).

OUT OF COMPETITION

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

MAN IN BLACK di WANG Bing

A heartfelt and sincere tribute to the great Chinese composer Wang Xilin was given to us by the director Wang Bing in his medium-length film Man in Black, premiered out of competition at 76° Festival of Cannes.

An essential staging, stripped of useless frills, therefore, it turned out to be the right solution in order to tell us the story of the protagonist. Everything opens, therefore, with the image of a man (Wang Xilin himself) which is about to enter, completely naked, inside an old building. who, suddenly, he finds himself on a sort of theatrical stage. The music he composed initially acted as the absolute protagonists, until he sits down at a piano. Then, slowly, begins to tell his story. His story – e, at the same time, also the history of China – magically come to life on the big screen.

In staging all of this, Wang Bing opted for the most essential staging possible. The camera focuses on the body of its protagonist, marked by many events, but still dignified in its role as bearer of an important historical memory. There's no need, in Man in Black, of nothing else, in order to convey to the viewer the true essence of the story. Pictures, at first, they speak for themselves, and then make words their main actresses. And so, in this little one, precious and painful Man in Black we are given the vivid and pulsating image of a historical period that is crucial to say the least, as well as a refined tribute to one of the most important composers of our day.

MARGUERITE’S THEOREM by Anna Novion

Marguerite's future, brilliant mathematics student at ENS, seems to be already pre-established. Only girl in her class, he is completing a thesis that he has to present to a group of researchers. The big day, a mistake overturns all his certainties and the entire structure collapses. Marguerite decides to leave everything behind and start over. Luigi Noera saw it for us (REVIEW).

FORTNIGHT

L'AUTRE LAURENS di Claude Schmitz

France, and to, she has always been a master of the polar genre, to the point of having set a precedent throughout the world in this sense. The other Laurens, directed by Claude Schmitz and premiered in Cannes 76 a fortnight of the Filmmakers, wants to continue this tradition by wringing, at the same time, also keep an eye on American cinema. The director will have succeeded in this (difficile) business? Soon said.

The story staged is that of a detective specializing in adulteries, who finds himself investigating the death of his twin brother, who he hadn't seen for years. In a singular context on the Franco-Spanish border, therefore, its investigations will take place, further enriched by grotesque characters and which fit well within a story like the present one.

Ironic, at times awkward, but overall enjoyable, the film plays heavily with gender stereotypes and characters that, During the years, we have seen time and time again in similar contexts: by young Lolita, to corrupt cops, till, even to a fascinating femme fatale. In this sense, therefore, the feature film seems almost afraid to free itself from certain clichés, turning out to be almost a small exercise in style that is lacking, just, a good dose of courage to "take flight". Sin. Above all because there was so much potential. We'll have to see what else the director can give us in the future.

CRITICS WEEK

Competition

 

Lost Country by Vladimir Perišić

A little gem was presented, today, a Week from the Critique. We are talking about Lost Country, directed by the young Serbian director Vladimir Perišič, as well as sincere and touching photography of an era that was, to say the least, crucial for his own nation.

who, therefore, we are told Stefan's story, a sixteen year old boy who lived

and together with his mother (una straordinaria Jasna Duričić), government spokesperson. In a 1996 in which the protests against Milošević will gradually become more and more bitter, the young man will be torn between the love he feels for his mother and the state crimes for which his party is responsible.

Lost Country, therefore, revolves entirely around its magnetic protagonist. Raw, painful, but also extremely close to his characters, the film immediately stands out for its clean direction and rough realism reminiscent of the history of cinema (impossible not to think, regarding certain events, even to the great Robert Bresson) he treasured, giving life, at the same time, to something totally new and personal. The topics covered are extremely complex and delicate, the moral dilemmas that grip the young protagonist also. And the director, its part, he managed to handle all these elements with grace and sensitivity, making a difference in its own way within the rich selection of Cannes 76.

ACID

ON THE EDGE by Nicolas PEDUZZI

The Festival of Cannes, and to, always presents a particularly rich and varied programme. It doesn't happen rarely, therefore, that even within collateral sections you can discover real jewels of contemporary cinema. About that, documentary On the Edge, the latest effort by French filmmaker Nicolas Peduzzi, presented to Festival of Cannes 2023 within the section ACID, it turned out to be an extremely interesting product, who, also thanks to a well-calibrated and never over the top direction, it allows us to get to know up close a reality that many have heard about, but which very few can say they really know.

In Paris, in the Clichy neighborhood, there is an important psychiatric hospital, the public hospital of Beaujon. Such a hospital, Unfortunately, has been greatly affected by cuts in public funding and, Consequently, can only have one psychiatrist, who, with the help of a small team of assistants, will have to cope in the best possible way with the desperate conditions in which patients find themselves, everyday, crowd the clinic.

Nicolas Peduzzi's camera immediately appears incredibly close to his protagonists. It doesn't happen rarely, therefore, that while watching On the Edge we are given intense close-ups during the dialogues between the doctor and his patients. Heartbreaking stories of those who have attempted suicide several times, of those who have suffered heavy trauma, of those who struggle to find their place in society alternate one after the other together with the stories of the young Doctor Jamal and all together - also thanks to an at times tight editing that hardly gives us time to catch our breath between scene and another - they compose a varied and colorful fresco of one of the many realities that color the city of Paris every day.

There is no need, in On the Edge, of redundant captions. The pictures simply speak for themselves and, sometimes, they can do a lot, so bad. and yet, alongside so much desperation, however, there is an albeit faint glimmer of hope. Nicolas Peduzzi knows his stuff. And with this important documentary of his he was undoubtedly able to make himself noticed within the rich programme 76° Festival of Cannes.

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marina fears