Jornal da Mostra
“Still Life”, by Jia Zhang-Ke
Nº 431 > 29ª Mostra > 11/09/2006
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Leon Cakoff, de Veneza, para o ‘Jornal da Mostra’
Edição:
Renata de Almeida e Leon Cakoff
Edição:
Renata de Almeida e Leon Cakoff
THE WINNERS JIA ZHANG-KE AND SPIKE LEE COMPLETE EACH OTHER ON TWO EDGES OF THE PLANET
The Golden Lion of the 63rd Venice Festival to “Sanxia Haoren/ Still Life” and its 34 year-old Chinese director Jia Zhang-Ke, is an endorsement of his sad and silent film of protest against the capitalist progress of Communist China, such fierceness that doesn’t seem to worry at all about the human lives around this ambitions project. But Italian and French press strongly criticized the jury presided by French actress Catherine Deneuve and formed by Bigas Luna, Paulo Branco, Cameron Crowe, Chulpan Khamatova, Park Chan-wook and Michele Placido.It was the Italian juror Michele Placido, also an actor and a director, who leaked information to the press. He started by telling there was no unanimity among the seven members of the jury. According to him, “Still Life” was a tight win, a 4 x 3, beating his favorite (and a lot of other people’s), the Italian film “Nuovomondo/ Golden Door”, by Emanuele Crialese. In the succession of bloopers, they invented for the director of “Nuovomondo” the revelation award. They forgot the same director had already been revealed in Cannes 2002 with “Respiro/ Grazia`s Island”... Unmoved, Deneuve played a Marie Antoinette: “Cannes is not the only festival in the world!”
“Nuovomondo”, in its first part, reminds one of the classic “L’Albero degli zoccoli/ The Tree of Wooden Clogs”, by Ermano Olmi, about the impoverished Italy in the beginning of the 20th century. “Nuovomondo” follows the tenacity and mysticism of a wretched family and their preparations to migrate to the United States.
Worse than that was the gaffe of the unexpected award for Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, a ‘Leone Speciale’, also a made-up category, for the “cinematographic language innovation” of the film the radical couple had in competition, “Quei Loro Incontri”. It wasn’t enough for Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet to have in Venice a film with actors of no motion and no expression saying lines written by Cesare Pavese in “Dialoghi com Leucò”, a beautiful narrative about the anguishes of life, pain, fate and death, among the characters of Greek and Latin mythology. A beautiful narrative, but it is not cinema, and shouldn’t be in competition at a festival which is so disputed by worldwide producers and should even less be awarded for its language innovations.
According to the same leak, this award would have been suggested by Paulo Branco, but the result was negative for director Cameron Crowe. To promote himself in Venice, Jean-Marie Straub distributed to the press an unhappy manifest, which only reverted against his elegant history of cinema of dissertation. Straub said that while there is American capitalism, terrorism will not end. Terrible leaflet on the eve of the five years of mourning for the terrorist attacks against the United States.
Veteran French director Alain Resnais was granted the best director award for the thrilling “Private Fears in Public Places”, which can be also called
“Coeurs/ Hearts”. Resnais built in studio a moving study about loneliness and recurrent or timid tries to build couples and to love. The studio, an element less and less frequent in the movies, gives the narration of the master a plasticity and richness of scenery we hadn’t seen for a long time. No voices were raised against Alain Resnais’ award, only against the award category. Many critics in Venice wanted the main award of the festival for the French master.
Another stream wanted the Golden Lion for “Darat/ Dry Season”, a rare film from Chad, by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. It is also a beautiful film about solidarity and forgiveness in times of war. “Darat” was granted the Special Jury Award.
Uneasiness was back with the announcement of the best actor award. Everyone considered as certain the choice of the Italian Sergio Cartellitto for “La Stella che non c’è”, by Gianni Amelio, but the ‘Coppa Volpi’ went to American Ben Affleck, for “Hollowoodiana”, by Allen Coulter, where he plays the first Superman in the movies, from his rise to the likely suicide. Again Italian press reminded that Ben Affleck had been elected the worst American actor in 2005, not that it means he doesn’t stand out in “Hollywoodiana”.
And the greatest unanimity at Venice 63 was the best actress ‘Coppa Volpi’ for the British Helen Mirren, for her unforgettable interpretation of the queen of England in “The Queen”, directed by Stephan Frears. “The Queen” got also the best screenplay award, by Peter Morgan.
Another weird award was the one granted to the futurist film “Children of Men”, by Mexican Alfonso Cuarón – best technical contribution award for Emmanuel Lubezki.
In a side award, the choice of the best straying director, another jury started more debates. It granted the ‘Premio Venezia Opera Prima “Luigi de Laurentiis”’ to the beautiful Mongolian film “Khadak”, by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth. In another co-direction, with Dorjkhandyn Turmunkh, Brosens had already given us “State of Dogs”, a moving narrative about the end of the Soviet Union, from the viewpoint of the soul of a stray dog that died and is about to reincarnate in a newly born human being.
The award to “Khadak” contemplated also the excellent selection of the session Giornate degli Autori. And a third jury gave Spike Lee’s “When the Levees Broke: a Requiem in Four Acts” the best documentary award. Spike Lee followed the track of hurricane Katrina and the everlasting damages in the minds of its victims. On the other edge of the world, China’s globalization also damages the common citizens of the United States. Jia Zhang-Ke’s requiem deserved the main award at the 63rd Venice Festival.
Translation into English: Laura Rebessi (laurarebessi@gmail.com)
