Ken Loach closes the Competition with a hymn to empathy

(from Cannes Luigi Noera and Marina Pavido – Photos are courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival) COMPETITION

THE OLD OAK of Ken LOACH

Presented as a world premiere in competition at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, The Old Oak is the latest work by acclaimed British filmmaker Ken Loach, as well as, according to the same director, what could even be his last film. Anyway, This feature film contains all the themes dear to the author, for a work that is profoundly pessimistic and touching at the same time. Let's take a closer look at what it is.

The story staged is that of TJ Ballantyne (played by Dave Turner), owner of the Old Oak, a pub in a small town in the north of England. He has been serving the same regular customers for years and everything seems to proceed without any particular bumps. One day, however, the arrival of some Syrian refugees will create tensions in the country. But TJ will soon befriend Yara (Possible to marry), a young Syrian with a passion for photography. Together, the two will try to give new life to the local community by organizing a soup kitchen for the less well-off, regardless of their origins.

The Old Oak, therefore, it is the extremely realistic and disenchanted image of today's society and the world in which we live. The locals are extremely hostile towards newcomers, he is afraid that they might, somehow, threaten their peace. And so, just to "defend" their world, we see how each of them is ready to carry out the most wicked gestures. Ken Loach shows us all this in a deeply sincere and painful work, within which, however, there is no shortage of moments of pure beauty – such as discovery, almost by accident, of a small exhibition of photographs or the organization of a screening evening in which Yara's works are shown to people - or moving demonstrations of solidarity.

All that, anyway, it is not enough to give hope for a better future. Ken Loach knows this well. Unfortunately. And so, working more and more by subtraction, he gave us a feature film – this precious The Old Oak – simple and complex at the same time, extremely refined in dealing with the human race in all its numerous meanings. A film that moved the entire audience on the Croisette.

We also recovered a couple of gems from the collateral sections:

FORTNIGHT

LEAGUE of Philippa Reis & João Miller Guerra

A small jewel of contemporary European cinema (e, in particular, Portuguese) is the feature film Légua, directed by Filipa Reis and Joao Miller Serra, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 all inside the Filmmakers’ Fortnight. who, therefore, we are told the story of three women, of three different generations who, one way or another, they meet, they cross paths with each other and, somehow, they influence each other.

History, therefore, it is set right in Legua, near the city of Porto. A rich home, neglected by his heirs, it is now inhabited only by an elderly housekeeper. In his household chores, the woman (suffering from a degenerative disease) she is assisted by forty-five-year-old Ana, wife of a worker who decided to leave to go to work in France, and mother of a teenage girl, who spends her evenings out and about having fun.

In League, therefore, the disappearance of an old world abandoned by its masters and whose servants are the last loving guardians is staged, between the routine of submission and a sort of re-appropriation of the heritage itself. An all-female story shows us how three lonely women, although very different from each other, are capable of looking after a real empire, unique cornerstones of a world in which, once, patriarchy had been the absolute protagonist and is now inevitably vanishing forever.

Magnetic images, an enormous villa within a large park. The passage of time can erase every trace of the past (unless we do everything we can to give life back to what we have). In League, the two directors played mainly on these elements, focusing their camera right on Ana's character, which almost acts as an intermediary between the two generations with which it is in contact. A predominantly contemplative directorial approach (in which great attention is dedicated not only to the environments, but also to the repetitive, slow daily rituals) It turned out, therefore, the right solution to stage the story of the three women. A story full of melancholy, but also with an important message of hope within it.

ACID

LINDA WANTS CHICKEN by Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach

Another little animated gem was premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival within the independent ACID section. We're talking about Chicken for Linda, directed by Italian director Chiara Malta, together with the French director Sébastien Laudenbach. It is a tender and at times touching little film, fresh like a pleasant spring breeze.

The story staged, therefore it is that of little Linda and her mother Paulette. The girl's father, an esteemed Italian chef, he passed away some time ago and used to prepare chicken with peppers for his family. One day, after punishing his daughter unfairly, Paulette will decide to prepare the aforementioned chicken for her, although the woman, in fact, doesn't know how to cook. Due to a general strike, however, it will be particularly difficult to recover the necessary ingredients.

Particularly noteworthy, in Chicken for Linda, it is the refined graphic creation. While the backdrops were painted for the occasion by the artist Margaux Duseigneur, each character was assigned a specific color, perfectly in line with your personality. HE, therefore, Linda is painted yellow (symbol of joy and joy of living), Paulette is orange, symbol of wisdom and composure.

the city of Thessaloniki is the setting for a recent tragedy that many seem to have forgotten, for their part, they demonstrated extraordinary maturity in staging a simple and complex story at the same time, a tender mother-daughter relationship that is not at all obvious, within a linear and well-composed narrative structure it finds its worthy fulfillment. And who knows what other beautiful surprises the two directors will have in store for us.

Now all that remains is to wait for the response of the Competition Jury, and we look forward to seeing you next year on the Croisette to tell you about the Festival par excellence.

marina fears