'Nouvelle Vague', a profound love letter to the history of cinema

As engagingly as perhaps with a hint of envy, Linklater recounts the years of the Nouvelle Vague as a veritable factory of creative inspiration, ready to revolutionise the language of filmmaking regardless of the rules that had dominated it until then.

Capable of intriguing the uninitiated and of being a real treat for any self-respecting cinephile, 'Nouvelle Vague' may appear at first glance as a toy designed for aficionados, but as the minutes pass one perceives a dramaturgical strength of writing that removes any doubts about the value of the operation.

Linklater takes the viewer into that miraculous process, in which everything revolves - for better or worse - around Jean-Luc Godard, an author who is celebrated in an intelligent and unconventional manner.

There is also room for several funny moments in this film, which flows by quickly and smoothly, making even those who were not there nostalgic for a time they never lived through.

The final captions, where the subsequent fortunes of 'Until the Last Breath' are explained, could have been avoided, but they are small details within an incisive and brilliant operation.

Renoir

Chie Hayakawa's 'Renoir' also stands out positively in the competition,

Set in Tokyo at the end of the 1980s, the film stars Fuki, an eleven-year-old girl, who is going through a difficult family situation: her father is battling a very serious illness, which has him in and out of hospital, while her mother suffers from ever-worsening bouts of stress.

Mixing reality with Fuki's imagination, the film has an almost impressionistic slant, which at times risks making the vision too cumbersome and confusing, but at the same time offers an original look within a film that thrives on precisely these stylistic impulses. After making her debut with the successful 'Plan 75' (2022), Japanese director Chie Hayakawa directs another film focusing on decidedly delicate themes, confirming her elegant and refined stylistic touch. Not everything is perfect, but the charm is not lacking.

La trama Fenicia

Finally, 'The Phoenician Plot', a new film by Wes Anderson, was also in competition.

The screenplay revolves around the story of a family business that finds itself at the centre of an intricate and tension-filled plot. The film opens with Zsa-Zsa Korda, one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe, miraculously saving himself from a serious plane crash. From that moment on, he begins a journey with his daughter to resolve a delicate administrative situation concerning his estate.

As in his previous two films 'The French Dispatch' and 'Asteroid City', Wes Anderson's cinema is now increasingly theoretical, less exciting and engaging than it used to be, but more inclined to think in terms of extremely layered storytelling.

There is no shortage of clumsy and unsuccessful moments, alternating with funny and inventive passages. The result is a film that half works and that we will soon be talking about again: it will be released in our cinemas in the last days of May.