Jornal da Mostra
“Sang Sattawat/Syndromes and a Century”,by Apiichatpong Weerasethakul
Nº 427 > 29ª Mostra > 02/09/2006
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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
FROM LENNON, DE SETA AND DE PALMA TO APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL, THE FESTIVAL ENCHANTS
Despite the disputes and the word war, Venice is still a good meeting point for the last harvest of world cinema. The greatest curiosity in the first day of festival was the new film by the Italian master Vittorio De Seta, “Lettere dal Sahara”. Vittorio De Seta will be one of the honored at the 30th São Paulo International Film Festival, with the launching of the book “Italian Political Cinema – the 60’s and 70’s” and the retrospective of the films that marked this restless period in world history. De Seta keeps on being coherent in his career as a political documentary maker. In “Letter from Sahara” he makes a docudrama without precedents in Italian cinema, facing the new reality in the country, which everyday receives more and more immigrants from wretched countries or war zones. He follows immigrants from Senegal, from the clandestine arrival as castaways to the coast, to the return to their home countries. At every step the film shows new emotions from different points of views. Clandestinity, Italian solidarity, violence by intolerant Italians, and the truth, told by one clandestine immigrant to the children in his home village.“The Black Dahlia”, by Brian De Palma, was the opening film at the 63rd Venice Festival. It is a film noir with all details demanded by film fans – first person narrative, mysteries only uncloaked a little before the final credits, and, above all, many lit cigarettes smoking and bringing the old charm of the 40’s. Hollywood manages a way to keep its partnership with the millionaire tobacco industry. With a film set at a time when smoking wasn’t indecent or known to be dangerous.
Much more smoke soared from another American movie with the charms and appeals of film noir – “Hollywooland”, by Allen Coulter. At this one, the unsolved mystery is the death of the first actor to play Superman for a TV series. At an opening specially favoring Americans, there were two other unavoidable curiosities – “Infamous”, by Douglas McGrath, again about Truman Capote and his real inspiration to write “In Cold Blood” and, among the best, the documentary “The U.S. vs. John Lennon”, by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld.
“Of all documentaries ever made about John Lennon, this is the one he’d love”, says Yoko Ono, his wife. “The U.S. vs. John Lennon” reveals many important facts about John Lennon as an intense political activist while he lived in New York, from the end of the 60’s. The film proves an artist can indeed have political opinions without talking necessarily nonsense. It proves John Lennon wasn’t silly and shallow like the media liked to show the facts he created. And besides remembering his genius in the solo compositions after the Beatles separation, it shows Yoko Ono was actually an adding, important fact in his political decisions, different from what, again, said the media at the time. Finally, we can see clearly that John Lennon was manipulated by several left-winged strains, after witnessing over half a million manifestants singing his anthem “Give Peace a Chance” at the march on Washington on November 15, 1969, naturally for peace, for the end of Vietnam war. It is the beginning of the great Kafkian battle of the American government to expel Lennon and Ono from the United States.
The Thai filmmaker Apiichatpong Weerasethakul, of “Tropical Malady” (2004), showed at the Venice competition the new film of mysticism, enchantment and spiritual magic “Sang Sattawat/ Luce del Secolo/Syndromes and a Century”. World press was already charmed and enthusiastic with the birth of a new author in filmmaking with “Tropical Malady” (Critics award at the 28th São Paulo International Film Festival). The new film by Apiichatpong Weerasethakul has hypnosis effects, with different characters and ambiences, acting as if they were the same, with the same feelings of love, uncertainty, discovery and passion. An unforgettable cinema experience.
Translation into English: Laura Rebessi (laurarebessi@gmail.com)
