Welcome to the ninth and last of the chronicles that we have been dedicating day after day to the 69th edition of the Seminci – Valladolid International Film Week, the second that yours truly will cover for El Séptimo Arte. 'Vermiglio' – According to Maura Delpero, its screenwriter and director, it is “a journey in time and space” that takes us to 1944, to the remote town in the Italian Alps that gives the title to a film “that tries to reflect on the past to understand where we are now and look to the future. Despite taking place in a very specific time and place, Delpero gives the film a universal touch through a network of relationships that allow her to reflect on motherhood, family, patriarchy, the passage of time, belonging to a community. , self-determination, life in the mountains or the aftermath of war. Delpero opts for the fixed camera and long, static shots with a lot of depth, which gives it a more pictorial than cinematic aspect, in a film that, in fact, feels more like being in a museum in front of a suggestive succession of paintings. than in a cinema facing a narrative succession of frames. ******* 'toxic' – Made from autobiographical elements, the debut feature by Lithuanian director Saule Bliuvaite addresses the conflictive relationship of its two teenage protagonists with their respective bodies, foundational elements of self-discovery and, at the same time, battlefields from which they cannot escape . Their ambition, like that of so many, is to escape from the industrial city where they live poorly without any future. This is, 'Toxic'whose title already suggests where the path will go, explores the depths of adolescent angst in a society founded on the cult of the body and unattainable canons of beauty to, thereby, make a social chronicle at the intersection between the search for perfection and the portrait of life in the peripheries. Chronicle, and not criticism, since Bliuvate bets on a certain ambivalence with which it shapes a first solid film with a certain personality that lacks, yes, hitting some kind of table to overcome the sensation of déjà vu . ****** 'Sing Sing' – Film based on real events about a group of prisoners who find in the theater and in the creative process of being actors a way of escape, personal transformation and redemption. Theater as a means to explore one's own humanity, face the difficulties of prison life and have an opportunity for social reintegration. Through rehearsals, Greg Kwedar builds a prison drama with an undoubted indie flavor, simple and direct, highly effective and honest led by Colman Domingo whose imposing presence is reminiscent of that of Idris Elba who portrays the human experience of prisoners, the possibility of find themselves and be happy within the prison walls. It's hard not to think about 'Life sentence'more than anything (and probably for nothing else) because of the humanistic and hopeful nature of both films, and their ability to reflect the harshness of living in prison in a subtle, gentle and deeply emotional way. ******* 'The seed of the sacred fig tree' – An intriguing cross between social drama and suspense thriller that aims to reflect the political reality of Iran in the intimacy of a family. How easy it is to prejudge strangers, and how difficult it is to do the same with acquaintances… eh. The entire film is a wicked and constant allegory that reduces the conflict of an entire country to a single family. Based on what could well be a moral drama by Asghar Farhadi, Mohammad Rasoulof develops what a gun ultimately turns into a thriller that is about to get out of hand. Not so much because of its obviousness, but because of the inelegant way in which it ends up abandoning the father (and with it the family) to their fate. There are reasons for this, but more than two long hours after such elegant footage one expected something more refined. This does not diminish this remarkable film, although, taking into account its imposing cinematographic category, it would have been preferable if Rasoulof had not chosen sides. Although it is obvious in itself. Or, precisely, for that very reason, because it is an unnecessary gesture. Powerful, but unnecessary and too opportune and sensational. How easy it seems on the screen, in the movies, and how difficult it is in real life. With or without a gun. ********
