The Venice Cinema Festival officially kicked off its 80th year with the world premiere of Edoardo De Angelis’ Comandante, an Italian World War II movie starring the famous Pierfrancesco Favino.

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The cinema replaced Luca Guadagnino’s highly anticipated film Challengers, which had to be cut from the cast due to ongoing writer and actor strikes in the United States.

Set in 1940, Comandante tells the true story of Commander Salvatore Todaro (Favino), who saves the lives of enemy sailors who survived the sinking of the Belgian ship Kabalo, which opened fire and accelerated Belgium’s involvement in the war. war. To show mercy to his comrade, Todaro disregarded his orders, jeopardizing the safety of his own submarine and his men.

Festival director Alberto Barbera described the Comandante as “a strong call to the need to put the values ​​of morality and human solidarity before the brutal logic of military protocol”.

Indeed, cinema finds humanity in its darkest places and finds timely resonances about the need for empathy in a world at war and the displacement of those affected by conflict.

Director Edoardo De Angelis (right) and Pierfrancesco Favino pose for photographers at the 80th Venice Cinema Festival held in Venice, Italy, on August 30, 2023.

This is a strong start for the 80th edition, which also features the famous Italian director Liliana Cavani’s new movie The Order of Time. Both Cavani and actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai were awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

“I am very happy and grateful to the Venice Biennale for this wonderful surprise,” said Liliana Cavani, who accepted the offer.

The director is best known for his documentary film Philippe Pétain: Processo a Vichy, Lion of San Marco in Venice in 1965, followed by Francesco d’Assisi (Francis of Assisi, 1966), Galileo (1968), I Cannibali (The Year of Assisi). ) followed. Cannibals, 1970), Vilayet gioco di Ripley (Ripley’s Game, 2002) and Clarisse (2012).

Tony Leung Chiu-wai starred in three films that won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival; A City of Sadness (1989) directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Cyclo (1995) directed by Tran Anh Hung, and Lust, Caution ( 2007) by Ang Lee.

Among the premieres to be held at the Venice Cinema Festival are the new movie Ferrari by Michael Mann; biopic starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, an Italian racecar driver turned auto entrepreneur; Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film, Poor Things, is his first since The Favorite, which premiered in Venice in 2018 and was awarded the prize; and Wes Anderson’s second Roald Dahl adaptation after Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar follows a wealthy man who learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes, and then begins to master the skill to cheat. in gambling.

Jury president Damien Chazelle wears a ‘Writers Guild Strike’ T-shirt as he poses for photographers during a photo shoot for the jury.

In the coming days, Luc Besson’s Dogman movie will also be screened. This is a controversial choice for the Contest section because since 2018 numerous women have filed sexual harassment allegations against Besson and accused her of rape. The director has denied doing anything wrong, and his reputation has been tarnished, even though earlier this year a French court dropped charges due to insufficient evidence.

This year’s cast includes two more controversial directors: Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, who will both premiere The Palace and Coup de Chance, respectively.

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Barbera defended her decision to include directors of new films, stating that she is “a festival director, not a judge”.

Allen’s all-French film Coup de Chance (a director’s first) will premiere at the festival, although the director was accused of sexually abusing his adopted daughter in 1992 and was never charged. denied it.

Polanski’s movie The Palace will also be screened Out of Competition despite the director being accused of sexually assaulting a minor in 1977.

Barbera stressed that both Allen and Besson had previously been cleared of the charges, adding that “Besson and Allen were acquitted, formally and legally, and Besson never even had to appear in court.” Regarding Polanski, Barbera said: “I don’t understand why the distinction cannot be made between a man’s responsibilities and an artist’s responsibilities.”

He recently added that Polanski was “one of the last great European directors.”

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The 80th Venice International Film Festival takes place from 30 August to 9 September.