16 August 2024.
By Neptune
THE LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL AT 77 !
This week we’ll be covering the biggest film festival in Switzerland which will be ending this Saturday. When one says big, in Locarno one has to think of their BIGGEST draw – the Piazza Grande in the centre of town – which seats up to 8000 spectators for its nightly open-air screenings under the stars. That is spectacle.
I have mentioned all the charms of this festival before, as I have been reporting on it since the 1990s, but here are some pointers for our new readers:
- There is the superb location of the town on the Lago Maggiore, with the lake and its velvety green mountains connecting it to neighbouring Italy in the south/eastern region of Switzerland.
- Locarno has an illustrious history of films and stars from around the world, established in 1946 at its mythic Grand Hotel, which no longer exists. In its heyday it was known as the important “Smallest of the Big festivals” (Cannes, Venice, Berlin), and flourished under such dedicated directors as Moritz de Hadeln (1970s) to Marco Muller and Frédéric Maire. From 2012, under a series of directors, it seemed to lose its lustre and it affected its choice of films and stars. But its public success continues due to its location and past glory.
- For me, Locarno’s main trump card is its tradition of close proximity to its audience. Its exceptional daily Forum meetings connects the film creators – cast and crew – to the general public, along with the press and industry. After each competition film, anyone can sit down at the Forum to freely ask questions of the actors and directors. That is a rare event in international festivals, yet it is crucial in understanding the creative process, and engaging the artists in their humanity. There are also programmed Conversations with invited stars at the Forum, where again, all can participate.
- This year there were such creators present as the French actor/directors Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet; the Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan; and multi award-winning Australian director, Jane Campion. At different ceremonies, they were presented with Golden Leopards for their life’s work on the gigantic stage of the Piazza Grande, and met their public at the Forum.
- As for the competition films and other categories, I found them mediocre. The problem is that much of the selection was from what they call emerging, experimental works of (supposed) ‘auteurs’ which do not necessarily have the quality nor the experience needed for greatness.
But there was a moment of magnificence, and it was due to the presence of the dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof and his powerful film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, which had won the Special Jury Award at Cannes, and was being shown at the Piazza Grande.
The film is about a family whose father has been given a promotion, becoming an investigative judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. There are obvious financial advantages to the new post, but there is also the fact that he must prove his fidelity to the government by signing the death sentences of young protesters. He is basically a good man and the idea weighs heavily upon his conscience. In the meantime his wife is a devoted supporter of her husband and tries to assuage his feelings of guilt, while his two daughters are aghast at the whole situation, both inside the home and outside, where a revolution is brewing because of the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, by the Morality Police.
With the growing movement of “Women, Life, Liberty” as a frame for his story, Rasoulof has created a searing condemnation of the political and personal repression in his home country through the slow dissolution of this family. The film is almost Shakespearean in its allegory of evil seeping into a loving, respectful home life. And he builds up the tension to a powerful finale in this long film which never feels overdone. Superbly acted and conceived, this is his most outstanding work to date.
Speaking to Rasoulof himself, I asked how he could make this controversial film in Iran under such precarious circumstances. He said his inspiration for the film came while he was in political prison – for filming without a permit. A guard offered him a pen and told him of his constant guilt at being part of all this oppression, his thoughts of suicide and the questions of his children at home. That was the kernel for this film.
About the actual shooting of the film, he said it was done mostly indoors, but for the outdoor scenes he directed by cell phone from within a car, with a small camera on the hood and always on the lookout for the authorities. He also had collaborators in Germany who were working closely with him on the editing and post-production. As for how and why he left Iran, he said he knew he was choosing either between prison and death, or going abroad to continue making the films he needs to make. And he would rather not divulge how he was helped in his escape from Iran, as it could endanger others. He is of course very concerned about his crew and actors (the father and mother figures) who have chosen to stay in Iran. The two actresses who played the rebellious daughters have fled to Europe.
I also wondered about his somewhat Russian-sounding name. He said his father had been living in Baku when he applied for a new birth certificate. Instead of writing Rasoulzadeh (son of Rasoul), they gave him the Russian suffix ‘of’.
The 51 year-old Rasoulof, who was born in Shiraz, has been for years under surveillance, in and out of jail for his politically charged films such as “Manuscripts Don’t Burn”, “A Man of Integrity” and “There is no Evil”, all having won numerous awards at Cannes and Berlin.
To say he is courageous is an insignificant word compared to his humility, his integrity, what he has been through and the oeuvres he has created under punishing circumstances. Now that is an ‘auteur’.
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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