Film and Media

'Bang Bang', Tim Blake Nelson's great performance as a former boxer

Vincent Grashaw's new feature film starring the famous American actor was presented out of competition at the Locarno Film Festival

by Andrea Chimento

9 August 2024

3' min read

Key points

A carefully written anti-hero
Le déluge

3' min read

Cinema and boxing often offer a combination that can give good satisfaction, and Vincent Grashaw's 'Bang Bang', a film presented out of competition at the Locarno Film Festival, is no exception.

The ring usually becomes a metaphor for the whole of existence, but in this case the centre of the plot is a retired boxer, Bernard Rozyski, nicknamed 'Bang Bang'. Despite the fact that many years have passed since his retirement, Bang Bang continues to brood over what happened back then and, in particular, over his historic rival, cultivating a very strong anger within himself, while living in a miserable flat in a Detroit neighbourhood.

Suddenly his life changes when his daughter knocks on his door to leave him his son for a while, a troubled boy struggling to find his place in the world. With his grandson by his side, Bang Bang could achieve a kind of personal redemption: the goal is to train the boy to fight in the ring, but the demons of the past continue to haunt the old boxer's mind.

After "What Josiah Saw" in 2021, Vincent Grashaw - American, born in 1981 - confirms himself as a director to be reckoned with: his staging is solid and several themes emerge that connect within his filmography. From the secrets of the past that continue to haunt the present to the importance of intergenerational relationships, there are several constant elements in the poetics of an author who is still much underrated.

Within the narrative of 'Bang Bang', the theme of redemption is also linked to that of revenge, both personal and collective, as the protagonist's actions also become deeply symbolic of an idea of social revenge.

A carefully written anti-hero

The dark atmosphere of the film serves as an obvious metaphor for the tormented soul of the main character, a carefully written anti-hero.

The screenplay, by Will Janowitz, has some too predictable passages and experiences some ups and downs, but the overall design still holds up at a distance and several dialogues between grandfather and grandson are really incisive.

Not every situation told is believable, but the way the script and the direction dig deep into the restless soul of the main character are remarkable, also certainly due to Tim Blake Nelson's performance.

The talented American actor, who turned sixty this year, gives a performance of extraordinary intensity, to be remembered among the most significant of his entire career.

Le déluge

Instead, the Piazza Grande was the setting for the presentation of 'Le déluge', a co-production between Italy and France, directed by Gianluca Jodice, a director born in Naples in 1973, known for having signed 'Il cattivo poeta' in 2020, a film starring Sergio Castellitto in the role of Gabriele D'Annunzio.

'Le déluge' is set in 1792, when Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette and their children were arrested and imprisoned in the Tour du Temple, a gloomy Parisian fortress, awaiting trial. For the first time in their lives they find themselves isolated and vulnerable away from the splendours of Versailles.

The title of the film ('The Flood') is particularly apt to convey the film's apocalyptic atmosphere, the end of a rapidly changing world and the personal one of characters who find themselves in a totally unexpected situation.

The traumatic collapse of an era is effectively connected with the fall of the masks of the royal family, thanks to good historical reconstruction and striking visual choices.

Something creaks in the pacing and in the overall involvement, but the ambition of the project and its great appeal are undeniable, making it undeniably interesting viewing and enhanced by the performances of Guillaume Canet and Mélanie Laurent, both of whom received the Davide Campari Excellence Award in Locarno.