Five films left

The Venice Festival is coming to an end

Tomorrow, September 7, Mikhalkov’s film “12” will be shown in Venice, and this place of honor on the last day of the competition certainly beckons with hope (although no one expects anything special from its co-star “Chaos” by 81-year-old Egyptian director Youssef Chahine). However, the competition is great, and the jury is made up of only directors (and every real director, as you know, has his own vision of cinema, and not just taste preferences) - such a jury is difficult to predict and difficult to control. However, it is possible that Mikhalkov’s cinema, which is unusual in its method of filming (the director shot the film as a performance, sequentially scene by scene, for a very long time, with long rehearsals, interrupted only by forced absences of the actors) can surprise and intrigue the directors. And the civic feeling will be consoled by the theme - as everyone already knows, the film is about accusing a Chechen teenager of murdering his adoptive father, a Russian commander, and it is his fate that is decided by 12 jurors, among whose roles there is not a single person known to the world film community, but completely beloved actors in our country. As for the quality of this very long (150 minutes) film, the entire action of which takes place during one jury meeting in the school gym (however, as one can judge from the announcements, sometimes, in the memories of the characters, the action is still transferred to another space) , then the Russian audience will be able to judge it next week, when “12” is released, and the verdict of the Venice jury will already be rendered.

While there are still new premieres every day in Venice - today at midnight they will finally show a long-awaited and intriguing surprise film, about which we only know that it is from Asia (last year’s surprise, the Chinese “Still Life”, by the way, became the winner of the Venice competition) . Until then, the public will be treated to Greenaway’s new film “Night Watch” (naturally about Rembrandt) and the Italian “Rush Hour” by Vincenzo Marra. A total of five paintings, never seen by anyone...

Of those seen, however, no clear favorite emerged. Joe Wright's Atonement, based on the novel by Ian McEwan, seems to have shocked only festival director Marco Müller, who insisted that the young director's film open for Mostra. The classics turned out to be more interesting after all. Patriarch Brian De Palma's film "Edited" aroused quite strong emotions - most likely that is why no one applauded him after the end, but this tape, stylized as an amateur video, scared off some with its excessive straightforwardness. Nevertheless, in the critics' ratings, "Edited" shares first place with the medieval pastoral pastoral "The Love of Astria and Celadon" by the French classic Eric Rohmer, which parodies all the cliches of the romantic consciousness. The film “It's a Free World” by English master Ken Loach was received favorably and with applause. Although it was filmed in England, it tells about the fate of guest workers from Eastern Europe, it should be noted, very sad fates.

“Lust, Caution” by the fashionable and titled Ang Lee shocked not so much with its frank eroticism as with the virtuosity of the director, who turned the history of political struggle in China during the Second World War into a sexually scandalous thriller.

Paul Haggis's film "In the Valley of Elah" with Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon continues the theme of the war in Iraq, also referring to America's Vietnamese past. Haggis, like Palma, stylizes parts of the film to look like actual video documents, but his overall picture is more respectful than truly moving.

The new film starring George Clooney, “Michael Clayton,” directed by Tony Gilroy, also had a political message, in which the sex symbol and favorite of Russian women played a lawyer fighting alone against transnational corporations. And here there was criticism of Bush in particular and the American regime in general, which Clooney courageously and consistently opposes, promising that America is closer than ever to a “radical turn.”

But the main star for the large Venetian public was still Brad Pitt - and our newspapers were full of reports about how the actor was attacked by a fan, how he refused to take off his glasses in front of photographers, and how he and Angelina Jolie were going to have another child, the fifth for the blessed dads... Actually, Pitt arrived at the premiere of the competition film “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” by Andrew Dominik, but, as it turned out, there was nothing to tell about the film.

Ironic skeptic Woody Allen showed his third London film, Cassandra's Dream, out of competition - a pessimistic view of life with several oases of saving humor. And his favorite star, Scarlett Johansson, played in the film “The Nanny Diaries,” which was shown to a sold-out audience in one of the festival’s eventful programs. One of them, “Venice Days,” opened with Alexei Balabanov’s film “Cargo 200,” and a lot of people also gathered for it.

The contract of Marco Müller, the main patron of Russian paintings in Venice, expires this year; he has already been offered to stay, but nothing has been decided yet. Meanwhile, in addition to the usual lions, the festival also has a new symbol - a battering ball in a deep hole, a metaphor for designer Dante Ferretti. Actually, even a social poster - three years ago a competition was held for a new festival building, according to the project it will have a main hall for 2.5 thousand spectators and several smaller ones. The cost is approximately 77 million euros, and they say that Müller is ready to continue working only on the condition that construction does begin...

The results of the competition of 23 paintings will be announced on Saturday.

Gleb MYSHKIN