Venice Diary #04 - "Sundown" and "Last Night in Soho" disappoint, a Spanish comedy made my night
Monday, September 6, 2021 at 7:10PM by Elisa Giudici
Penelope Cruz and cast in "Official Competition"
One of the things I like the most about the Venice Film Festival is how audience-friendly it is (aside from the maddening ticket system for this pandemic edition). It is remarkably easy and not that pricey to enjoy the most exciting movies of the competition in screenings devoted to the general audience, a lot easier and less expensive than Cannes for example. Tourists can walk by the red carpet and see major movie stars from Hollywood.
Lido (where most of the screenings take place) is a long, narrow island in front of Venice. It's a microcosm in which one might see Marco Bellocchio carrying his wife's luggage, Paolo Sorrentino eating breakfast in the cafè next to the red carpet, Luca Guadagnino riding his bike to return to Hotel Excelsior, or wind up in a queue with behind Jane Campion, who wants to see Isabelle Huppert's latest performance -- all of the above are little, precious moments I actually experienced here...
Here in Venice a lot of stars and directors live the cinephile life for a couple of days, almost in incognito. Well, a lot a people do recognize them, asking for an autograph (there are autograph hunters in strategic spots of Lido) or a photo together, but it is manageable festival without bodyguards.
Last Night in Soho (Edgar Wright)
The most disappointing film of the festival (thus far) saved by the captivating visual style of the director and by the impressive work on sound mixing and editing (a large part of which will be lost outside a movie theatre). Like Sorrentino's È stata la mano di Dio, Last Night in Soho is a very personal movie for Wright, and he shot it on the Soho streets and corners "in which I spent more time than on my couch as a young adult". I have so many complaints. First of all about the heroine, Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie). She is a wannabe fashion designer who spends her time listening to '60 songs and sewing clothes but has no friends outside of her own grandmother. In 2021, with a whole not so new anymore world of possibility and connection on the Internet and social network, this level of "I can fit into society because of my unique sensibility" for me is quite annoying.
She is the alter ego of a son of the '80s (like Wright) and the least believable Gen-Z that I've seen on the big screen. I can't tell you what bothers me most in the main plot twist and the ending because it is too spoilerish...or not? You can see any major twist coming well before the revelation. Last Night in Soho is the kind of movie that you can find major plot holes, incoherent or unrealistic parts by simply thinking about the movie or the ending for a few minutes with friends. Am I suggesting avoiding it? No, because Ana Taylor-Joy is gorgeous in this one. Her Sandy is full of charm, seductive, desperate but never a weak character. I loved her singing act in the first part of the film and I can not wait to listen to the extended version on the soundtrack which Wright promised to include during the press conference.
Sundown (Michel Franco)
This was a bizarre experience. It's the shortest movie in competition (only 83 minutes!) yet I spent the first 30 minutes thinking "Will Franco get to the point eventually?". I loved his previous film New Order, that is as straight forward and pessimistic as this one is allusive and tortuous. The plot is hard to discuss without spoilers because the whole point of the film is to understand why Tim Roth;s character is acting in such a strange, detached way. He is on vacation with his sister and her teenage sons in an exclusive Mexican hotel. When his sister needs him the most, he lies to her and goes out with locales for no apparent reason (with tragic consequences). I kind of want to see it a second time because I suspect there is a lot more to notice once you know all the answers. A final note: I got the distinct impression this was shot with a limited budget and in a short amount of time -- almost like a side project (like Pablo Larraín's Ema recently).
Competencia Oficial (Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat)
Can we have more comedies at the main competition in any Movie Festival, please? Especially if they have the dry humor and the level of inside jokes that Mariano Cohn's and Gastón Duprat's film has. I suspect Competencia Oficial is especially funny to be seen at festivals because it tackles neurosis, animosity, absurdity, and tics of the world of arthouse cinema. A Spanish billionaire decides to fund the adaptation of a fictitious novel, "Rivals", the dramatic story of two brothers written by a Nobel prize winner. Penelope Cruz plays the role of a famous director hired to write and direct the project. She is into her art and genius and is both absurd and unpredictable. Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez are the two actors chosen to play the brothers. The first is a well-known, handsome, and pragmatic movie star, the latter an esteemed "maestro" with an acting school and a disdain for Hollywood and the movie industry in general.
The movie follows the making of the Rivals movie from the acquisition of the book's rights to the rehearsal before the shooting, until the press conference at a major Festival (a scene that was hilarious to watch at the Venice Film Festival). What can I say? I laughed so much. In those long, unedited sequences of rehearsal, the audience can perceive all the underlying real weirdness of the auteur niche the movie was built on. The trio of protagonists added a lot of funny elements to the original screenplay based on their experiences on set. Penelope Cruz here is amazing in a role that's much different than her usual. Her fake filmography sounds so juicy! The huge, red, curly wig is also a dream.
More Venice coverage
- Elisa's Diary #1 Parallel Mothers and Power of the Dog
- Elisa's Diary #2 The Card Counter, Hand of God, The Lost Daughter
- Elisa's Diary #3 Spencer, A Plein Temps, Il Buco
- Eiisa's Diary #4 Sundown, Official Competition, etc...
- Elisa Extra Dune - full review
- Elisa's Diary #5 L'Evenement, Lost Illusions, Mona Lisa...
- Elisa's Diary #6 Reflection, Captain Volkonoff Escaped, Old Henry, etc...
- Nathaniel in Venice #1 Parallel Mothers
- Nathaniel in Venice #2 Power of the Dog, Madeleine Collins
- Nathaniel in Venice #3 Atlantide, Les Promesses, The Lost Daughter
- Nathaniel in Venice #4 107 Mothers, Official Competition, Miracle, etc...
- Nathaniel in Venice #5 Last Night in Soho, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
- Nathaneil in Venice #6 Catholic School, A Hole in the Fence, La Caja
Reader Comments (4)
I so wanted Last Night in Soho to be good! If only for a posthumous nomination for Diana Rigg - I can dream though, right?
Oh dang it, Last Night in Soho was the movie I was really looking forward to seeing this fall.
Still looking forward to "Soho" - I knew Rigg was in this but somehow missed that they also got Rita Tushingham!
@Dave S in Chicago @TomG
Don't let my disappointment stop you: it is at least enjoyable and many colleagues here in Venice found it quite or really good.
@morganb123
No, I don't think so. The role is tiny and, in general, I am not getting any award vibes from this movie.