Sexual disorder, we could say, paraphrasing the “gender disorder” theorized by the American philosopher Judith Butler: because pleasure, the exploration of other relationships with the body, as well as the desire to break taboos have fueled a certain number of scenarios throughout this Venice Film Festival, which will end on Saturday 7 September with the presentation of the Golden Lion and other awards. Will the jury chaired by Isabelle Huppert be sensitive to these new romantic dialogues or will it prefer to dedicate works more closely linked to current political events, in particular on racism and the extreme right, other strong themes of this edition?
The competition was sometimes laborious, with few excellent films and durations that often exceeded two hours. The expected works, Mariaby Pablo Larraín, The room next doorby Pedro Almodovar, The Joker. Folie a dosby Todd Phillips, Queer, by Luca Guadagnino, etc., were generally disappointing. In the end, it was the less recognizable filmmakers, particularly female directors, who emerged. At least a handful, since only six films out of a total of twenty-one competing for the Golden Lion were directed by women.
The erotic thriller little girlThe Dutch actress Halina Reijn opened the door, marking Nicole Kidman’s return in a sensual role. The Australian actress plays a big boss who enters into a submissive sexual relationship with a young intern. This film of precise suspense questions buried desires and blows up power relations, with the big boss not being immune from the denunciation of this illicit affair within the company. If it puts a stop to the civilized cinema of the post-#metoo era, little girl Don’t stab women in the back. Instead, act as a form of resistance: to a colleague who threatens to blackmail her, Nicole Kidman’s character says this phrase, which will remain as the final line of this edition: “If I want to be humiliated, I can pay someone to do it.”
We will also remember this line of dialogue, in the sun future of diva, by Italian Giulia Louise Steigerwalt, which examines the rise of pornographic cinema in Italy in the 1980s and 1990s, under the direction of Riccardo Schicchi (1953-2012): “We are amoral, not immoral”explains the photographer and director (played by Pietro Castellitto), who defends sexual cinema as art and the result of free love: one of the actresses, Ilona Staller, will enter Parliament under the name “Cicciolina”. But this image “peace and love” Porn will disappear with the industrialization of porn and the exploitation of actors and actresses. In the program, fire and melancholy.
You have 64.84% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
