Mostra Day 3 and 4 – “Babygirl” (Halina Reij), “Trois amies” (Emmanuel Mouret), “Leurs enfants après eux” (Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma), “Campo di bataglia” (Gianni Amelio) and “The order” (Justin Kurzel)

I had to wait for one more day to write this one as there was honestly nothing much to say about day 3. 

“Babygirl” tells the story of a successful and powerful CEO (Nicole Kidman) having a sexual affair with a very young and attractive intern. We have already seen this fifty times and in much more interesting formats. About “Trois amies”, I have even less to say. I would summarize it as someone’s unsuccessful attempt at being the new Eric Rohmer. The problem is that, if you are not as gifted as Rohmer was, all this talking and unnatural dialogues end up being crucifying for the actors (and it proves again that Camille Cottin is a good actress as she is the only one who at least slightly survives this crucifixion). We obviously ran away.

Fortunately, after seeing (yet again – it seems to be my cross to bear) the worst of contemporary French cinema, we saw the best of it yesterday. “Leurs enfants après eux” is based on the 2018 Goncourt winning novel written by Nicolas Mathieu. Though being slightly too long, it is supported by a fantastic cast of renounded actors (Gilles Lellouche, Ludivine Sagner) as well as young and not yet so well known ones, who simply burst the screen with their authenticity. 

For those who have not yet read the book (you should), it takes us back in the 90s and the lives of teenagers in a economically crumbling region of France. It is quite rare that a movie does honour to the book it is based on, this is definitely one of these cases. 

The standing ovation in the Sala Grande was long and enthusiastic in presence of the entire cast. A really nice moment of this year’s Mostra. I’m betting on a price for this one.

We followed in the evening with two pretty decent and very different films (though not award-worthy, according to my personal opinion). 

“Campo di Battaglia” tells the story of first world war doctors confronted with wounded soldiers (some by their own deeds) willing to do anything not to be sent back to the battlefield. Are they traitors to the nation or are they only poor souls who already gave enough to the country and are in need of saving? Add to it the beginning of the Spanish flu epidemics and you end up with a quite dramatic story filmed in a very austere manner but focusing on an important and less and less known moment in our history. Not to mention that my beloved Alessandro Borghi plays in it and is always a delight to watch.

We ended up the day with “The Order”, a beautifully filmed (these Idaho sceneries are stunning) crime story, based on true events involving a white supremacist group preparing for armed revolution against the state institutions (a frighteningly actual topic). Though it has a very standardly structured scenario, it is supported by a good cast (Jude Law – one of his really good performances – Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan) and a storyline that really does the trick. The conclusion is thus: no surprises but a solid movie.

The night walk back home through empty San Marco completed perfectly this day to remember…