The case is exceptional, but not surprising. Festivals are both the avant-garde of the cinematographic avant-garde and above all a place of communion between filmmakers and enthusiasts. Attending a world premiere, usually reserved for spectators by invitation only, gives a magnitude of the phenomenon that such and such a director is intended for the general public. In front of a willing and festive audience, the moments of applause worthy of finger-wagging are not surprising.
In Cannes they came to tell cheers for up to 20 minutesThe historical record is held by 22 minutes of Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006, but these are very specific images: usually, good ovations last about ten minutes, and the ones that are required – when you notice, you know, that the film has not clicked with the public – go from half a minute to five; always, we would say, according to the time and the desire.
Venice operates in the same spirit as Cannes. Yesterday, the prodigal son was unanimous among critics, The Brutalistreceived 12.7 minutes of applause (as reported Variety). It was a notable record in this edition, which already largely exceeded the 10 minutes of the most applauded film of last year, Harmony Korine’s joke. Aggro Driftwhose screening had as many desertions as extremist applause. poor creatures Yorgos Lanthimos, for example, took 8 minutes to eventually win the Golden Lion.
Today Pedro Almodóvar received 17 (and a half, specify Vulture). Swinton, Moore and Almodóvar had time to hug, raise their fists, cry… Then, the man from La Mancha began to shake hands with the rows of the room, absolutely full of joy, chanting a cry that accompanied a good part of the day for the photoshoots from the Lido: ” Rock ! Rock ! ” Rock ! ».
As Almodóvar began to greet everyone, around the 14th minute of applause Moore And Swinton They were already starting to laugh, nervously waiting for an outcome. This is the case, although fortunately no one followed Adam Driver’s example at Cannes 2021, when after five minutes of applause a cigarette was already lit. The next day, he apologized and did not attend the press conference.
At the Film Festival #Venice They like to measure the success of films by applause and Pedro Almodóvar was given a 17-minute standing ovation after the presentation of his new film “The Room Next Door”.pic.twitter.com/FcJVJiePNU
–Zandra Zittle (@zanzittle) September 2, 2024
Pedro Almodóvar’s big day
Counting the applause is as anecdotal and inconsequential as describing an act of popular devotion, recognizing it and giving it space. However, the applause for Almodóvar comes at the end of an intense day. On the one hand, it is surprising because the screening with the international press, in the morning, was received without unusual enthusiasm. There was laughter at times and pleasant applause, but nothing more.
On the other hand, it is not surprising. Pedro Almodóvar has had a real love affair with the Mostra, since its creation here in 1983. between the darknessand in the morning, Swinton, Moore and he enthused with their impassioned statements at the press conference.
The show was one of the most watched this year, causing the Palazo’s internet connection to collapse. During the round table, they talked about immigration, euthanasia, climate change, death and friendship. You can read it in our column. In any case, the applause will not influence the Official Jury chaired by Isabelle Huppert, who was not present in the room and who is known to watch the Competition films separately…
But this news serves as a thermometer for a tasty film, as popular as full of quotes to all the imagination that the history of art has dreamed of America. In our review, we defend it as “the least typical film of ‘La Mancha’, at once the most universal and the most generous” and “as intense and harmonious as the incredibly blond wigs and exquisite green prints of Yves Saint-Laurent.”
Pedro Almodóvar adapted the New Yorker novel Sigrid Nunez What is your torment? In a film that finds Ingrid (Moore), an idle writer agrees to live with her good friend Martha (Tilda Swinton) in a house in the middle of the forest, during the weeks before she, terminally ill with cancer, performs euthanasia. It is a “ghost film”, as we called the review, even if it was received with an enviable life and passion.
