La Grazia
Visually sumptuous and comic drama by Paolo Sorrentino (La Grande Bellezza), with Toni Servillo as the Italian president during the final months of his term of office. Winner of the Coppa Volpi (Best Actor) at the Venice Film Festival.
How does an austere moral purist cope with arriving at an age where all certainties are fading? Mariano De Santis (Toni Servillo) is at the end of his tenure as President of Italy, still grieving eight years after the death of his wife and angrily obsessing over her infidelity decades earlier. His brilliant, middle-aged lawyer-daughter, Dorotea (Anna Ferzetti), has brought legislation for him to sign that challenges his beliefs. As the clock ticks, the President must also decide on two pardon requests that pose hazardous moral challenges.
Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino and Servillo, two of cinema’s greatest collaborators, once together made Il Divo, a sharp satire about Italy’s corrupt seven-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti. This time, they’ve invented a politician, one with very relatable fears and doubts, whom we can all love. Late in the film, we see Mariano’s dream of being weightless, a sublime vision of power and powerlessness that captures the essence of a delicate, unforgettable tragi-comedy. (source: Telluride Film Festival)
Written by J.C.
Ultrakort
Prior to this film, the Limburgian Ultrashort film Een Uitgestoken Hand by Loek Kusiak will be screened.
This film follows volunteers from the Jongerenkerk in Venlo who support homeless and undocumented people with meals and medical assistance. Against the backdrop of changing asylum policies, the film raises compelling questions about solidarity, humanity and its limits.
Onder de beeldschone scènes schuilt een kalme melancholie die alles extra lading geeft.