How different the always hateful Monday looks when talking about SEFF. Goodbye to the 4th day of the Seville European Film Festival, which is already rushing towards the halfway point of this year's show, and which in its programming left a couple of titles that undoubtedly raise the level of the contest and solidify so much to the EFA Section (where the Audience Award always comes from) and to the Official Section in competition with SEFF itself. The first of the titles that this chronicle concerns is the new film by the always stimulating director Andrea Arnold, which is titled 'Bird' and leaves a bittersweet feeling once it ends. The reason for this is that there was a film in 'Bird' about the kinky youth of that abandoned and decentralized England that was glorious. It's a shame (or not) that Andrea Arnold doesn't hold back and taste the fantastic candy with her mouth full, in a decision that is as legal as it is questionable. Arnold's virtuosity with the camera is remarkable, because he portrays the chaos and disaster that prevails in that social stratum almost as if he were filming a tightrope walker on a rope. It is a very marked, accentuated and even invasive directorial work at times. It is more for a narrative issue, when the story prioritizes that spiritual connection that the 'misfits' have with the animal kingdom to the detriment of that hurtful and heartbreaking social drama that remains in the subplot. Of course, Arnold's brilliant and subtle connection with Emerald Fennell's 'Saltburn' through, how could it be otherwise, the character of Barry Keoghan. As if he were Oliver Quick's cani and undocumented brother. In short, a brave bet towards that fantastic realism that gives so much metaphor to a story, and a strong candidate to win the EFA, judging by the loud and fervent reaction of the respectable after finishing the screening after 7:30 p.m. in the cinema Cervantes. Time jump and also location jump for the second movie of the day. What is the second home for many film-loving Sevillians, the Nervión Plaza, hosted in its room 2 the night screening of the Belgian film 'Julie Keeps Quiet', directed by the Belgian director Leonardo Van Dijl. Very delicate and complex melon that opens the work. What if a woman's silence is more positive than negative in the cause against abuse? A daring question that Van Dijl's film poses with many more lights than shadows, but always without despair or impatience in wanting to keep his pulse. Van Dijl always places the camera far away and off-center from the action, naturalizing the viewer's own opinion and perspective, and making him become another character without vices or conditions. The work observes and attends, without intruding or sweetening the story. A great technical decision that proves that the film team was very astute in its production, as well as in casting an impressive Tessa Van den Broeck as the film's protagonist. Tessa, who in real life is a federated tennis player, makes her acting debut here and couldn't be better. Fantastic role holding the emotional strings inside her, as if she were playing a tennis match against herself. The reflection of the film proposes an idea that may raise blisters: perhaps remaining silent will make an environment question the issue even more in search of answers and the issue is more latent than ever. Maybe it's that by demanding a voice, you become more martyred. Maybe it's that by giving space and simply being there, you can talk without having to open your mouth. Of course, 'Julie Keeps Quiet' is a work with personality, with clear and defined ideas and, above all, with a frankness that is not very welcome in these lapidary times. A possible winner of the Audience Award of this SEFF 2024 and the Oscar candidate for Best International Film for Belgium have been two of the gifts that the Seville European Film Festival gave away on its Monday. And things don't end here, because on the 5th day of screening, Tuesday the 12th, one of the great films of the season has its last screening at the SEFF, Jacques Audiard's 'Emilia Pérez'. And many more from other sections that, for the moment, maintain a more than worthy note for a program that did not bring them all with it right off the bat. Let things continue like this.
