The critical gaze of Vittorio De Agrò from the Palais

(by Cannes Luigi Noira and Vittorio De Agrò (RS) with the kind collaboration of Eleonora Ono – the photos are published courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival)

The #Cannes78 festival does not forget Ukraine: tribute to Zelensky and the courage of his people

On the inaugural day, the political act par excellence could not be missing and so in addition to the tribute to the greats of the past, a triptych was presented on the war of the Ukrainian battered. In particular on the figure of V. Zelensky Girl Biography of YES Jeuland, Lisa Vapné & Ariane path

The Cannes Film Festival opened its edition with a special event dedicated to Ukraine, As a sign of solidarity with a tireless but tenacious people. Tuesday 13 May, Al Palais des Festivals, A program has been presented composed of three works that tell the key moments of the war and its symbol figures: Zelensky, Our war di Bernard-Henri Lévy e 2000 Metri Fino ad andriivka di mstyslav Chernov.

Tell us cinema, Always close to the Ukrainian cause, He witnessed the screening of the first film scheduled:

Zelensky Di Yves Jeux, Lisa Vapné & Ariane path

Plot: Volodymyr Zelensky nasce nel 1978 a kryvyi rih, Industrial city in Eastern Ukraine. Raised in a Soviet environment, without particular political interests, It develops a strong passion for acting and entertainment from a young age. To reassure the Father he studies law, But his true talent emerges between improvised stages, stand-up comedy e musical.

Review:Sometimes fate plays with irony. Nobody, Mostnight Zelensky himself, He would have imagined that that boy who grew up in the gray and industrial Kryvyi Rih would become the symbol of the Ukrainian resistance.

From the beginning of the Russian invasion (February 2022), Everything said about Zelensky and the opposite of everything: hero for some, controversial figure for others. But it will be the story, hopefully written with honesty, to define his role.

The documentary aims to tell the human and artistic path of Zelensky, even before political. More than a hero built, The film shows a young driver born, capable of driving and inspired those who surrounded him as a teenager. From the stories of friends like Denis, Sasha e olenka, A profound and sincere bond emerges: together they formed a group (Kryvji 95)of artists who conquered the Ukrainian and Russian public.

Unforgettable their participation in a competition(A sort of games without borders) in Eastern Europe in 1997, where they were unjustly penalized by a pro-Russian jury. That defeat lit in Zelensky the determination to become the producer of his own projects.

Actor, comic, successful manufacturer, He lives as a spectator the political changes of his country until Crimea's annexation in 2014. That moment marks a turning point. Zelensky takes a position, He sides against Russia. Fara a long tour in Donbass to support Ukrainian soldiers.

His popularity still grows with the victory in Ballando with the stars and the success of the television series servant of the people, where he plays a tired professor of corruption who decides to apply for the presidential elections. A script that becomes reality: in 2018 truly announces his application and wins with the 73% votes, promising the return of the Crimea and the end of the conflict in the Donbass.

The documentary, over two hours long (a more contained duration would have been more effective), It is however well made and precisely deepens the human and political profile of Zelensky.

The real turning point arrives in the first days of the Russian invasion, When he decides to stay in Kiev. In a video shot in the dark, Together with his staff, shows the world its choice: stay and fight. From comedian to commander.

in May 2022, Zelensky intervenes at the opening at the Cannes Film Festival, citing Charlie Chaplin and the great dictator: Words still current and powerful pronounced by another great comedian.

With the guiding thread of the Great of the Cinema of Primordi for Cannes Classics

Opening Film: The age of gold (1925) by Charlie Chaplin restored

Plot: The vagabond is combined with the gold race in the north frost, between desperate seekers, criminals, Hunger and snowbuildings. Takes refuge in a hut with two companions, facing hunger to the point of having to boil a shoe to eat. Hunger makes him appear like a chicken in the eyes of Giacomone, But the arrival of a bear changes the fate.

After various vicissitudes, The vagabond arrives in a mining village where he falls in love with Giorgia, A dancer who initially derives him to make another man jealous. Misunderstanding, humiliations and a failed New Year's dinner are part of their slow approach.

Meanwhile, Giacomone, Survivor and hit by Amnesia, He remembers the vagabond and involves him in the search for a mine. The two return to the old hut, But a storm pushes her on the verge of a ravine. After a daring salvation, they really find gold.

Become millionaires, they return home by ship. Giorgia, unaware of their luck, He believes that the vagabond is a clandestine and offers to pay him the ticket. But he discovers the truth and the two find themselves, Under the gaze of the photographers. The vagabond whispers that she is his wife.

Review: A year ago I discovered Napoleon of Abel Gance. This year, following once again the intuition of the engineer director Luigi Noira, I had the pleasure of reviewing the golden age, Rediscovering all Chaplin's size - or rather, of his alter ego charlot.

At Cannes 2025, The restored projection of the golden age, thanks to

Precious work of the Cineteca di Bologna, It was a perfect way to open the Festival, celebrating the one hundred years from its first release. The version presented has enhanced every detail: every step, every object that moves, Each expression of the body becomes an integral part of the narrative thanks to burn music and amplified sounds. The union between the silent and the sound, Between mime and orchestra, It works poetic and timelessly.

The film is an extraordinary mixture of comedy and melancholy. Chaplin manages to tell the despair of those looking for luck in snow, hunger and loneliness, but he does it with a moving lightness. The vagabond, with his broken shoes and sincere gaze, embodies the best part of the human soul: it's funny, Yup, but also capable of slenderness of kindness, love, dedication.

The love story with Giorgia, Started almost as a joke, evolves delicately. He has nothing, But it offers her everything she has: the heart, A flower preserved under the pillow, A table set for New Year's Eve. In this, Chaplin is universal: Talk about gold hunger, of course, but also of the hunger for love.

There is also a social vein that flows under the comedy: The misery that pushes to boil a shoe, The struggle for a field, the arrogance of the rich. and yet, Chaplin is never cynical. Believes that the voucher, simple, may have its revenge. And gets it, even if in a daring way, With a pinch of fairy tale. ........

COMPETITION

Opening Film: Go on a day of Amélie Bonnin operates FC FC

The plot: Cécile is about to open his gourmet restaurant, finally realizing his dream, When suddenly his father has a heart attack and is called back to the village where he was born. Far from the hustle and bustle of Paris life, meets teenage love. Memories resurface, destabilizing its certainties.

Review: "Leaving one day" was chosen as the opening film of the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, But unfortunately he cannot hold the symbolic and qualitative weight of such a showcase.

It is not a bad movie, and also has sincere and touching moments. however, Overall it is predictable, anchored to an already seen narrative scheme: The return home, The suspended accounts, the existential crisis, The first love found. Elements that risk playing already written, already lived.

The idea of ​​inserting the musical element as an emotional vehicle - almost as a light musical - is the only original choice of the director.

It works at times, especially in the most intimate moments of the protagonist. But it is not enough to raise a work that remains dignified, but without that flicker capable of making it memorable.

The protagonista Juliette Armanet, Note French singer -songwriter, It is surprising for intensity and scenic presence. He almost holds the weight of the film alone, giving credible shades to a complex character and often in the balance between rationality and instinct. The support cast, well selected, It acts as a frame without ever overlooking.

The film tries to transmit a simple but universal message: The house and affections are our refuge, But also the place from which we often want to escape. And it is only returning to the origins - by choice or for necessity - that we can rediscover ourselves. There is no catharsis or twist, but an emotional pacification told with measurement, without rhetoric.

Starting a Jour is a delicate movie, with a bittersweet flavor, but too shy to leave the mark. He moves kindly, but don't scratch, First work with good intentions, but still unripe. A debut that suggests a potential, but which for now remains in the tracks of the already known.

Vittorio De Agrò (RS)