'The Testament of Ann Lee', high expectations for a film not up to scratch

The boundary between reality and fiction becomes even more blurred in the numerous biographical films presented on the Lido, and this genre seems to be one of the great protagonists of this edition. After titles such as "Mother" by Teona Strugar Mitevska, centred on Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or "At Work" by Valérie Donzelli, based on a true story, it was the turn of two other highly anticipated films about real people, "The Testament of Ann Lee" by Mona Fastvold and "The Smashing Machine" by Benny Safdie, both presented in competition.

The first is a feature film inspired by the life of Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers, a radical religious movement born in the late 18th century.

She and her followers prayed through ecstatic chants and movements, trying to achieve a kind of spiritual transcendence in order to get closer to God.

Mona Fastvold had already been in competition at the Venice Film Festival five years ago with 'The World to Come', but also last year she was the co-writer of 'The Brutalist', a film directed by her partner Brady Corbet.

The Testament of Ann Lee' is also shot on film, and there is no shortage of undoubtedly evocative moments thanks to the photographic choices: a beautiful sequence with a fire, first and foremost, as well as the choreography of the dances, are realised with great elegance.

Despite the interesting formal apparatus, however, the film fails to intrigue as much as it should and, on the contrary, ends up causing the viewer to lose attention early on. There is no real sense of urgency in the telling of this character, and the socio-political breath that was instead present in the previous 'The World to Come' is not grasped.

Something is saved here and there within the vision (Amanda Seyfried's good performance as the protagonist), but it is really too little to create interest around a rather unresolved operation.

It should be noted that Mona Fastvold already has a new writer-director film in production, 'Self-portrait', co-written with Rachel Lyon and the aforementioned Brady Corbet.

Decidedly more significant is 'The Smashing Machine', the first solo effort behind the camera for Benny Safdie, after the many films he made with his brother Josh (among which the excellent 'Rough Diamonds' should be mentioned in particular).

It is the true story of a few years in the life of Mark Kerr, mixed martial arts legend and Ultimate Fighting Championship.

While the starting story may be somewhat too closely reminiscent of other great films of the past - such as Martin Scorsese's 'Raging Bull' or Darren Aronofsky's 'The Wrestler', which won the Golden Lion in Venice - 'The Smashing Machine' nevertheless has its own strong identity, which goes beyond the classic rise and fall paths we are used to in sports films of this type.

What interests Safdie above all is to tell the intimate side of the character, his inner frailties, his complicated relationship with his partner, his friendship with a colleague. From these premises comes a film of great humanity, capable of touching deep chords with extremely delicate directorial choices.

Special mention for the soundtrack and, even more so, for Dwayne Johnson's extraordinary performance in a role that could lead him straight to being among the leading candidates for the Coppa Volpi and, who knows, even an Oscar nomination.