![]() ![]() “The migrant crisis will shape Europe’s future. In Poland, people see “ Lukashenko’s weapons” in them, where there are only people left in limbo. In Europe today, many call such people a danger. But he was a young man with another home, and a family that he, like thousands of others, left behind on his way to the unknown. Thanks to that, Holland made it to his new home. And he knows enough Italian to use the very Neapolitan term “ cazzimma” (a mixture of courage, determination and mischievous cunning). “It’s been 15 years since my cousin and I left to reach Europe, no matter what it took. It’s the viewpoint of Kouassi Pli, the flesh-and-blood inspiration for the script, who sat next to Garrone at the press conference. Io Capitano takes on the stimulating perspective of a boy in pursuit of a dream. Agnieszka Holland (center) with two of the actors from her movie 'Green Border' on Tuesday at its gala premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The only ones missing are politicians, which says it all. But she also attempts to observe everything going on, even at the cost of losing some depth in some characters. Holland does not avoid looking at death and barbed wire she is clear about the fact that there are executioners and victims. The mistreated Syrians and Afghans, the border guards, the activists, the citizens. No matter how infuriating the issue, the best way to do it justice is grappling with the topic’s many nuances, which there always are. The comparison was painful, because Green Border shows the eternal validity of a formula that is rarely in fashion today: a difficult subject deserves an equally complex approach. What’s more, its preachiness - even in favor of such a just cause - is unbearable. In terms of film quality, however, it is light years away. In terms of subject matter, Ava DuVernay’s Origin could well be added to the day’s reflection on racism, caste and discrimination. But the magic of cinema was not forgotten, for it’s what helps Holland’s film shine, making it destined to leave its mark it isn’t quite as present in the journey featured in the Italian film and it’s what sinks the day’s third feature. ![]() And it challenged Brussels, Rome and Warsaw, where xenophobic governments rule and boast of their anti-immigration policies. Between the two films, the Mostra competition looked beyond its bubble for a while. He journeys from Senegal to Sicily in pursuit of a better life. That’s where Seydou, the main character in Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano, wants to go. There is a nuance to the situation: on one side of the border, there is a dictator on the other, there is the theoretically beloved, peaceful and welcoming European Union. And so it goes, back and forth, like a twisted game of human pinochle. There, one government intentionally lets migrants cross, while the other sends them back. The veteran Polish director had forced everyone to look, to think, with her gesture at a press conference on Tuesday and, especially, with her film Green Border, a powerful portrait of the ignominy at the border between Belarus and Poland. Suddenly, silence reigned for 60 seconds, and then everyone went back to their own business. There was no cinema, no divas, no glamour. With that, the never-ending conversation at the Venice Film Festival stopped. Agnieszka Holland asked for just one minute of everyone’s time.
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