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 themes of the two films in competition on the weekend, on the one hand, the grotesque portrait of a cross -section: no-mask contro pro-lockdown, Racism and conspiracy, corrupt institutions, manipulated information, and on the other the inner conflict of being a good believer e, at the same time, live a sexuality considered sinful by one's religion? It is right to sacrifice your identity in order not to disappoint the family?

COMPETITION

EDDINGTON by Ari Aster with Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone

Plot: New Mexico, 2020. Sheriff Joe Cross and the mayor Ted Garcia have been detected for years. Ancient personal grudges (An old relationship between Ted and Joe's wife) they intertwine with political divergences and opposite visions about the management of the Covid pandemic. Joe decides to apply for mayor, while the city breaks between those who follow the rules and those who refuse them. On background, racial tension and social discontent undermine all balances. The fuse is on.

Review: The 2020 It was a year that scored everyone. The pandemic has imposed silence, distances, mask. Initially it seemed to unite. Then he divided.

In the United States, The virus was added a toxic election campaign and the racial wound reopened after the umpteenth killing by the police.

Ari Aster tries to tell all this in Eddington, pushing that period to the extreme through characters who embody fears, neurosis and anger.

The first part succeeded. Each figure represents a different America:

- Joaquin Phoenix is ​​the skeptic sheriff, impatient to restrictions, convinced that the pandemic is inflated artfully.

- Pedro Pascal is the mayor Low, maniacal, closed at home with a family that is imploding.

– Emma Stone (almost wasted here) is Louise, The protagonist's wife, spectator and victim of growing frustrations.

Eddington becomes the grotesque portrait of a split country: no-mask contro pro-lockdown, Racism and conspiracy, corrupt institutions, manipulated information.

But when the film should tighten and sink the blow, it is lost.

In the second part Aster changes register. He abandons political and social satire and takes refuge in symbolic violence, between explosions, drones, murders and delusions.

Phoenix turns into a furious executioner, And the story derails in a spiral of excesses.

It seems that Aster does not know how to close. Opens too many narrative lines, some useless, others just mentioned. The tone becomes uncertain, almost caricatured.

In the end Eddington is two films in one. The first is a bitter and restless radiography of contemporary America. The second one, a stylistic exercise that confuses and weighters.

A partially missed opportunity. But still a film that deserves attention. Even just to see how much you approach the point of no return

The little last by Hafia Herzi

Plot: The petite driver touches the history of fatima (Released by Nadia Melliti), A seventeen -year -old girl, The youngest of three sisters, Raised in an affectionate and united Franco-Algerian family in the Parisian outskirts.

Review: Brilliant student, Fatima gets a place in a prestigious preparatory class of philosophy in Paris. It is the first of his family to access the University, And this makes it a source of pride. But, once far from home, comes into contact with a new world, free, where it can finally explore itself. Thus was born a path of discovery and conflict: The attraction for women puts in crisis his Muslim faith and the values ​​of his community.

Divided between the desire to be herself and the fear of disappointing the family, Fatima seeks a balance between identity, belonging, freedom and faith. The path proves painful, made of new emotions, first times, disappointments, but also of courage and growth.

Review: It is possible to be a good believer e, at the same time, live a sexuality considered sinful by one's religion? It is right to sacrifice your identity in order not to disappoint the family?

Petite Dernière tackles these questions through the sincere and fragile gaze of Fatima, A seventeen year old Muslim, devoted daughter, sister, model student. But behind the perfect facade, A desire that puts her in crisis is agitated: Fatima is attracted to women.

The protagonist tries to live two parallel lives: the public, reassuring, and the secret, charge of feelings of guilt. Use an appointment app, Meet some girls: These are tender moments, commemorate, carnal, lived with the uncertainty of those who are looking for oneself. The meeting with a Korean nurse, known at school, It turns into an authentic love at first sight. For a short time, Fatima feels happy. But the relationship stops abruptly, leaving it injured and abandoned.

In an attempt to soothe pain, takes refuge in occasional experiences, But none manages to fill the void. Not even the interview with the imam, Among the strongest and most bitter moments of the film, manages to offer them comfort: Indeed, it shows the unbridgeable distance between those looking for listening and a religion that cannot welcome.

Hafsia Herzi directs an intense and delicate work, capable of telling a suffering and often repressed coming out by a rigid company. The direction finds the right tone, without falling into the melodrama, giving space to the authentic emotion of Fatima's path.

The script is well calibrated, follows the inner times of the protagonist with respect and depth. Nadia Melliti is magnetic: His interpretation is dry, intense, vera. His tears, the sense of guilt, The confusion are credible and touching.

Petite Dernière reminds us that no religion should suffocate the happiness of those who believe. Fatima plays alone, Like a little girl who trains on life. And we spectators hope that that time alone lasts as little as possible, Because his wounds are also a bit of ours: those of the first love, of the identity that seeks space, of the freedom that asks to exist.

Vittorio De Agrò (RS)