In Locarno, a prize list haunted by violence
[ad_1]
Until the end, the 75e edition of the Locarno International Film Festival (from August 3 to 13) will have surprised, by its choices and its risk-taking, with a competition largely open to new authors, in fact abolishing almost any border between the official selection and the sections parallels. This gesture by artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, appointed in 2020, extends, even amplifies, the impetus given by his predecessors (Olivier Père, Carlo Chatrian). During the last decade, Golden Leopards have been awarded to rare works, a cinema of reality close to plastic art: From What is Beforeby Filipino Lav Diaz, in 2014, Mrs. fang, Chinese Wang Bing, in 2017, or even Vitalina Varelaby the Portuguese Pedro Costa, in 2019.
On Saturday August 13, the jury, chaired by Swiss producer Michel Merkt, rewarded little or unknown directors, most of them women: the Golden Leopard was awarded to Rule 34, by Brazilian filmmaker Julia Murat, born in 1979. This third feature film, which does not yet have a distributor in France, follows the itinerary of a law student, Simone (Sol Miranda), invested in questions of abuse of women. Her own fantasies however lead her into a universe connected to violence, Simone monetizing her sadomasochistic performances on the Internet, and indulging in extreme experiences in her personal life.
Summarized in this way, the screenplay might seem catchy, but the film’s writing turns out to be subtle, leaving all the space for the heroine to probe her impulses, build her identity, at the crossroads of minority struggles. The fiction avoids any overhanging gaze, capturing on the spot the days and nights of his character: his legal discussions with the teachers, his perplexity as to the capacity of justice to come to the aid of the victims; her moments of letting go in front of the computer, when she puts on a show “in front” of the client with her Afro haircut; finally, his amorous trances on the razor’s edge, with his partner (played by Lucas Andrade). They hurt each other, while sharpening their feelings, a torture and a delight that is always granted, each one expressing his limits, in a climate of gentleness defusing any attempt at binary analysis. No executioner in this story, but something else, abrasive and rare.
unjustly forgotten
Rule 34 upset the selection committee, explains to the World the “boss” of Locarno, Giona A. Nazzaro: “We chose very early, in February or March, the film by Julia Murat, which was unlike anything we knew. You have to go to areas where you have never ventured, otherwise you are only duplicating what you have already seen”, underlines the programmer, while welcoming the performance of the actress, who is also involved in politics. Sol Miranda will stand, under the label of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), in the legislative elections in Brazil, which will take place on October 2, the same day as the first round of the presidential election. On the eve of the announced duel between Lula and Bolsonaro, the prize awarded to Locarno necessarily acts as a symbol.
You have 48.66% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
[ad_2]
Source link
