Monday, November 21, 2011

The Moviemov: Italian Cinema Now Experience Part 4

The Last Night

RAd with Sen. Goffredo Bettini

As much as I wanted to go for five straight days and watch as many free movies as possible, my busy schedule during the weekend prevented me from doing just that. So I had to accept that I had to miss the third and fourth days of Moviemov: Italian Cinema Now at Greenbelt 3. But I still managed to go back during the fifth and last day and was able to catch the awarding of the winners and also view the closing film of the festival. And how could I pass the opportunity to see Pietra Montecorvino once again? Thankfully, she stayed for the duration of the Italian Film Festival organized by Asiatica Film Mediale and Playtown in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy, the Philippine-Italian Association, Rustan’s, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Film Development Council of the Philippines and the Peninsula Manila.

Upon arriving at the Greenbelt 3 Cinema lobby, I asked friends from the Embassy of Italy, the Philippine-Italian Association and Rustan’s manning the festival table how the past couple of days were taking into consideration the weekend crowd. They reported that the turnout was excellent with the cinemas getting filled with some people sitting on the stairs. And I was able to see first hand how people lined up early to get free tickets which were distributed an hour before the screening time. But less than five minutes after they started giving away tickets, there were already none left. It was quite sad to see people who came to the table afterwards asking for tickets only to be disappointed. Thankfully, I didn’t need to worry about lining up for tickets courtesy of my media pass.

Moviemov: Italian Cinema Now Winners

Special Mention
Mine Vaganti

Best Film
Vincere

Producer Gianni Paolucci with the Best Film Trophy

Before I watched the last film, I first went to the awarding of the winner of the festival. The jury who eventually chose two winning films (Special Mention and Best Film) was composed of Nick Deocampo, Mel Chionglo, Raymond Lee, Gil Portes and Angelo Lacuesta. Senator Goffredo Bettini, who spearheaded Moviemov was very pleased with the success of the event and remained optimistic that this would be an annual event that will keep on getting bigger and better. I was also very satisfied with the festival despite some setbacks like Dario and Asia Argento not being able to make it and also not knowing if the planned workshop by film composer Franco Piersanti ever happened. But seeing Pietra Montecorvino for the three days and being told by her that I have a Neapolitan heart made me forget the other stuff that didn’t happen.

The Dreamers


The Dreamers, which was the last film screened during the festival, is not really wholly an Italian film (a co-production between France, Italy and Great Britain) but this was included in the festival since this was part of the tribute to noted Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci. The movie, set in Paris during the late 60’s tells the tale of Matthew (Michael Pitt), an American student who befriends French siblings Isabelle (Eva Green) and Théo (Louis Garrell). Amidst the escalating protests happening in France, the three friends retreat into their own world, playing childish games, recreate scenes from classic films and engage into sexual activity that would definitely raise eyebrows even in this supposed to be modern and liberated society. This very unconventional friendship was put to the test when the reality of the current social and political situation forces the three to face reality and take a stand.

The film was very effective in making the audience get lost in the secluded world created by the protagonists. I did forget the outside world for about a couple of hours as I got intrigued, stirred and also disturbed by the irrational behavior and scandalous relationship of the three. There was frontal nudity and sex scenes but these didn’t bother me at all knowing beforehand what I was getting into. What bothered me was that I felt older since I got aghast by the irresponsible behavior of the Isabelle and Théo. In my younger years, I would’ve relished the journey, the headiness, and the romanticism exhibited by the three. But strangely, I felt like the parents instead.

The Final Word

I wish that I was able to maximize every opportunity regarding this film festival but there were so many events happening during the same week that I had to employ creative scheduling and budgeting in order to survive this very busy week. I felt bad that I wasn’t able to see the two winning films from the festival so I couldn’t say if they were truly deserving of the recognition. Overall, it was a splendid experience for me since I’ve never attended a film event of this magnitude before. I am glad that I also had the opportunity to practice my very rusty Italian which made me want to practice speaking the language more. And it took me towards the end of the festival to have my photo taken with Sen. Goffredo Bettini. It’s odd knowing that the festival is over and that all the buzz and excitement has already dwindled. But this just makes me anticipate what’s to come and makes me want to sing Libiamo.

RAd with Pietra Montecorvino

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