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The 77th Lido Film Festival opened on Wednesday night in Venice with a safe distance and masks. The film screening, which is the first major cultural event to take place physically since the outbreak of the pandemic, has taken many security measures to celebrate the return of cinema despite the corona risk. Therefore, the opening night took place without spectators, because the view of the red carpet is deliberately blocked this year. The photographers showed the guests on their way to the Palazzo del cinema with a large margin of safety from themselves and their colleagues. The absence of the screaming public in this context is reminiscent of football matches in front of empty stadiums.
The festival jury, chaired by Cate Blanchett and made up of Matt Dillon and Veronika Franz of Austria, walked the carpet to see Daniele Luchetti’s inaugural film “Lacci,” as did Tilda Swinton, who this time was awarded a Golden Lion to the work of his whole life.
“It is a privilege and an honor to be here,” Blanchett said in Venice. “I have waited so long for this moment. It is an important signal to reappear and show presence after six months in which the film industry was going through its worst crisis.”
Pulling together
The reopening of cinemas is a great challenge, but also a collective task, it does not affect individual national cinemas, but requires joint efforts, thus Blanchett, who also had critics prepared to face the crisis: “The economy is a member important of the family, but it seems strange to me that WHO cannot cope with this global emergency. I do not understand why we do not unite, act together and learn from each other. ”
Also at the opening gala, everyone joined in: the seven directors of the world’s premier film festivals, including Cannes, Berlin and Locarno, read a statement on stage in which they spoke in favor of the future of cinema and against the omnipotence of transmission services. “No one can exist without a cinema,” they said fiercely. “We all love the experience of watching a movie with an audience. We have to take care of our movie theaters.”
Relationship drama at the beginning
The opening film “Lacci”, which was shown here out of competition, is the first Italian film in years to receive this special place on the festival program. In recent years, the director of the Venice festival, Alberto Barbera, has chosen to select prestigious Oscar nominees for the opening, including “La La Land” and “First Man”.
“Lacci,” on the other hand, is a completely harmoniously staged family drama that pleasantly misses the hysterical quality of Italian cinema. But the plot is completely dramatic: a family man confesses to his wife (Alba Rohrwacher) an affair, she kicks him out, but then she wants to try to smooth things over, also because there are two small children who have to see everything. The film flashbacks back to the 1980s, where the separation took place, and explores the long-term consequences of such a separation in the present, which turns into a dramatic balancing act. But director Luchetti has his story under control, the actors make their way into the game very well, and overall, the start of the 77th film festival was saved. It doesn’t always have to be Hollywood merchandise that shines here in light of the opening.
