14 June 2024.
By Neptune
GLORIA *** (vo Italian)
This beautifully-filmed tale of a religious orphanage and conservatory for girls in 1800 Venice is a treat for the eyes, and for the ears through its charming music. As usual with the era and with religious establishments of the time, it’s also about the utter cruelty of those in power. The old priest who runs the orphanage is inept and corrupt, as is the governor of the town.
What makes the film shine are the young girls who have been formed into sparkling musicians despite the miseries and intrigues to which they have been subjected.
First seen in competition at the 2024 Berlinale, “Gloria!” is the debut feature film of Italian actress/musician/now director, Margherita Vicario. The musical moments feel somewhat like Forman’s “Amadeus”, but the periods of iniquity and injustice are reminiscent of films such as “The Magdalene Sisters” or Philomena”, in which innocent girls were ruled by ruthless nuns in the name of religion, even in the 20th century.
Here, Vicario presents a feminist point-of-view in the film’s female solidarity and the girls’ fight for independence and for the recognition for their musical compositions, some of which even sound like improvisational pop!
The one drawback is, at times, the incoherent scenario and too-speedy subtitles at the end, but the exquisite cinematography and élan of these young women pulls it through.
PARADIS PARIS (Dear Paris) *1/2 (vo French)
Was looking forward to this film, but it’s sad to report that this is not Marjane Satrapi’s best work. In fact, its stilted script and clichéd tales of various lives in Paris are strangely amateurish, a trait which the Iranian/French director had not shown in her previous stimulating works such as her innovative animation “Persepolis”, “Chicken with Plums” starring Golshifteh Farahani, or “Radioactive”, about Marie Curie.
Despite a cast including some of Europe’s top actors such as André Dussollier, Monica Bellucci, Roschdy Zem, Alex Lutz and the wonderfully over-the-top Rossy de Palma, the different stories of Parisian lives that Satrapi depicts fall flat, due to badly-directed acting and an uneven scenario.
An over-the-hill opera singer (Bellucci) whose wrongly-reported death doesn’t even make the news; a depressive adolescent who comes to life when kidnapped; and a café-owner (Lutz) who can’t forget his deceased wife, are among the characters.
Indeed a pity for all the fine talents that the film doesn’t crystallise better.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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