by Valerio Cappelli, sent to Venice
Golden Lion to Yorgos Lanthimos with his wife Frankestein. Best director for our Garrone, best actress Cailee Spaeny for “Priscilla”
The magic circle of awards closes with the victory of the big favorite, who commemorates outstanding actors and screenwriters in Hollywood in thanks and makes it clear to us in the films that not all images and stories have been told. It’s the outrageous, bald but disheveled Greek Yorgos Lanthimos with his female version of Frankenstein in Poor Things. He won the Grand Jury Prize at the Lido in 2018 with “The Favourite”, and he will be 50 in two weeks, a nice way to celebrate.
Almost all predictions have come true. Matteo Garrone with Io Capitano takes home the third prize for best director and receives great applause; A second recognition for the revealing actor goes to his young Senegalese protagonist Seydou Sarr. Matteo, who was appearing in Venice for the first time, had six appearances in Cannes behind him, which this time were inexplicably hidden from his eyes. And now he says ironically: “Why is there a festival in Cannes?” I have great memories of the Lido, since I was 18 years old and was a tennis coach, my student told me, look, there’s Nanni Moretti over there. I haven’t even seen a movie. At 27 I came back with a few friends in a dilapidated van, we slept in the pine forest for three days and in the Excelsior for three days.
“A Evil Does Not Exist” by the Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi wins the Grand Jury Prize: It is the short circuit of a poetic and exquisite journey into nature, between greed for profit and construction speculation by unscrupulous people. In the migrant derby between Garrone and Agnieszka Holland, Matteo wins the most important prize: Special jury prize for his Green Border about refugees stuck on the border between Poland and Belarus: “It wasn’t easy to do it.” Film for several reasons , some you imagine, others not. People are still hiding in the forest, in Europe we have the resources to have them, but we don’t want them.
Surprisingly, best actress is 25-year-old Cailee Spaeny (she won against Carey Mulligan for “Maestro” in “Amber”) for Sofia Coppola’s lifeless Priscilla in “Elvis’ Young Woman.” As an actor, Peter Saarsgard wins for “Memory” by Michel Franco, who reads a speech as long as an Egyptian papyrus, between artificial intelligence, humanity and Catholicism, but this year almost everyone came with a soporific leaflet, and yes, it’s about gratitude , stop . The script is by Pablo Larraín, in El Conde Pinochet plays a tired vampire, besieged by the greed of his heir sons, more vampires than his father. A grotesque fresco: The Chilean dictator can be called a murderer, which he was, but if you call him a thief he goes crazy. “A man who died free and rich. Impunity has made him eternal and what better way to represent this than a vampire? Micaela Ramazzotti (“Happiness”) won the audience award for “Orizzonti extra”. Italy has been missing the Golden Lion (Gianfranco Rosi) for 10 years. Red carpet already rolled out, see you next time.
September 9, 2023 (changed September 9, 2023 | 9:30 p.m.)
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