Two pretty good evenings at the Venice Mostra. They were also good because an executive decision was taken a couple of days ago not to suffer through all the Italian movies in the official selection. Do not take me wrong. I have nothing in principle against Italian cinema. But my practical experience has proven to me that, when 5 out of 21 movies of the official selection (we are close to 25%!) are Italian films, there might be what we can call it a “slight biais” that does not always guarantee for quality. As one needs to ensure survival through 10 days of screenings, choices have to be made. If one of the selected Italian movies ends up getting the golden lion this year, my strategy will be reassessed subsequently and another one will be put in place for next year. But, judging by what I have seen until now, I doubt.
So, on Monday we only attended the “Look Back” (Hirokazu Koreeda) screening, skipping Italian movie number 2. Koreeda is one of those directors who decided not to choose sides and to present a film both at Cannes and at Venice this year. If I remember correctly, Cannes did not go well for him. Venice was another strory (see, when I say you should focus on Venice, guys!).
Koreeda presented a film based on a manga that has already been adapted both into a shorter movie and an animated movie (none of those I have seen). Not having these initial references, I cannot compare and can only comment on the newest adaptation. And it is a very pretty one – though that type of film is not necessarily the one I would run to in excitement. The manga world is not in the centre of my interests. And the ones who know me well also know I have an alert radar on for films involving kids, that can easily become cheesy. Between cuteness and cheesiness there is a very thin line that I seem to be very sensitive to.
However, similarly as in “Monster”, Koreeda manages not to cross this line (though he gets closer to it this time) and to provide for a nostalgic, sad and poetic look into childhood friendship, people growing and time passing. As usual with him, the sceneries are a joy to watch and the soundtrack accompanies them flawlessly. Though it is a very sad story in essence, it is an experience you come out of feeling peaceful and contented. It is maybe not my favourite Koreeda film, but it is still one that deserves to be watched.
Yesterday was the day of the highly expected new Florian Zeller (“The Father”, “The Son”) movie, “Bunker”, screening. It also came with a highly expected and prestigious cast: Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. And I am very happy to announce that neither the movie nor the cast disappointed – though my colleague from The Guardian, who seems to be in a pretty bad mood this year, disagrees. I do worry a bit for him I have to say, as nothing seems to satisfy him. Not even “Wild Horse Nine”, which goes beyond my understanding. But then, what can you do except for feeling sorry for him and wishing him to feel better soon.
Anyhow, back to “Bunker”. Javier Bardem plays a successful architect who gets offered this very lucrative project. He is asked to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire. His wife (Penelope Cruz) challenges him with the meaningfulness of such a project and the whole rationale behind it. Based on this, and also because of an escalating conflict with the couple’s new neighbour who is building a window with a direct view on their fancy (and private) garden, tensions start to rise between them.
The movie is basically an acting masterclass with both Bardem and Cruz being at their best. It is a delight to watch (great picture, as you can only expect from Zeller), it is catchy and tensed until the end. It received the longest standing ovation in the Sala Grande to date this year. And it does come up with a bit of substantial questioning on how we tend to lock ourselves up and fear the unknown in an unhealthy way, lately. A general trend of the world that we should indeed all reassess before it leads to (further) disasters. A must see!
Cassey Affleck’s “Company” did not stand a chance after this (just for the anecdote, because it is quite meaningless, this one actually got the shortest Sala Grande ovation to date this year).
I shall end this one with a little tribute to my first week movie buddy (a regular since 4 years now), who left back to Brussels yesterday! Looking forward to sharing this experience with you again hopefully in 2027!
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