If the war is absurd and if history repeats itself, cinema renews itself aesthetically, as a way of fighting against stagnation. This is the good news of the 76e edition of the Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland (August 2-12), the premiere after the death of Franco-Swiss Jean-Luc Godard, September 13, 2022. Like a wink, Paul Vecchiali’s film (died January 18) Hello language, presented in the Fuori Concorso section, pays homage in its credits to the author of Live your life (1962) And ofFarewell to language (2014) – a single thread of dialogue, touching and biting, hello language follows the stormy reunion of a father (Paul Vecchiali) and his son (Pascal Cervo).
There were some handovers during this edition, and the cinema is alive and well with its “new” Nouvelle Vague: after a week of viewing, it can be estimated that half (at least) of the seventeen films competing for the Golden Leopard could win the award – the jury is chaired by Lambert Wilson. Against a background of conflict, the screens of Locarno have revealed new talents, seeking to reinvent language and fleeing the “subject” film.
An impression of going in circles, geographically, as well as a feeling of confinement in a “zone” emerge from several works, among the most striking of the competition. This is the case with the wanderings of a singer of Cape Verdean origin (Eliana Rosa), dragging her suitcase through a district of Lisbon, looking for a point of attachment, in the heady Manga D’terra, by Basil da Cunha, between documentary and musical. In a hectic genre, The Vanishing Soldier, by the Israeli Dani Rosenberg, depicts a young Israeli soldier in desertion (Ido Tako) who finds himself trapped in Tel Aviv. We do not let go of this character à la Buster Keaton in his desperate, tragicomic flight, the armed forces of Israel believing him to be captive, in the hands of the Palestinians. The director signs a universal work, symbol of a youth which refuses the war and wants to trace its life.
Surreal and devastating style
In the nightmare Sweet Dreams, Dutch director Ena Sendijarevic, born in 1987, sketches in a surreal and devastating style the daily life of an Indonesian plantation run by a Dutch patriarch, on the eve of the proclamation of the country’s independence (1945). When the story changes, the young Indonesian who officiates as a servant finds herself on the edge of the abyss: is she able to project herself elsewhere, to leave the place, to love freely?
You have 59.12% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.