‘Pacifiction’ dances with the power play and entertains with images of the Polynesian islands in a story where the nuclear threat has its place
Albert Serra (Bañolas, Gerona, 46 years old) premiered the film ‘Pacifiction’ in a grand manner in the official part of Cannes. His arrival, greeted with applause before and at the end of the show, underlined the admiration of the French for the Spanish director who was accompanied by the Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta.
A modern-day Serra travels to exotic Tahiti, where actor Benoît Magimel becomes the island’s High Commissioner and handles his dark affairs with enthusiasm. The idea of paradise lost is present in this twisted feature film where the set offers many possibilities. «I wanted to write a political history in a non-civil framework. The title refers to the idea of pure fantasy. It’s the opposite of the series on platforms where everything is over-analyzed,” said Serra, winner of the Gaudí (the Catalan Film Academy awards) in 2009 for “The song of the birds” (El cant dels ocells)
There are many other characters that interact with the protagonist, including a transsexual with whom he has an indefinite relationship, played by Pahoa Mahagafanau, and the Admiral (Marc Susini), a very strange man who will go down a disturbing path. Slowly the story becomes a metaphor for political tensions and people’s distrust of governments.
Serra is without a doubt one of the most interesting voices at Cannes this year, as he takes us to the beautiful waters of Tahiti to remind us that we need to talk about the nuclear issue. “During the pandemic, we shot the entire film in Polynesia for a month,” the filmmaker revealed. “The movie is about things of now, this wasn’t in the previous movies I’ve made, it’s in ‘Pacification’. Formally, he continues what he has done until now, because I am a director who does not compromise on his aesthetics, therefore I am one of the few who makes author films,” said the director.
Serra wasn’t the only Spanish director to have a red carpet at Cannes. Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Madrid, age 40) premiered his film ‘As bestas’ out of competition. Almost a western in which the characters want to take the law into their own hands. The ghosts are so nervous in the small Galician village Sorogoyen takes us to that a game of dominoes in a bar is experienced with fear on the surface. The neighbors are confronted with windmills, the land, the lives that never were. Galicia could be Kansas for this film from the director of the award-winning ‘The Kingdom’ and the equally acclaimed series ‘Antiriot’.
“It’s the idea of the outsider going up against the locals. They’re all in the bar, playing, a space where the spark becomes an insult. I decided to emphasize that feeling of western movies, shooting with a camera in an almost archaic way and very different from what I’ve done before. Sub-genres fascinate me. This is the time to subvert the genres. Every time I see a movie where a director tries that, he gets my vote.” admitted Sorogoyen.
‘As bestas’ has a luxurious cast in which Denis Ménochet, Luis Zahera and Diego Anidó stand out. The story is about a French couple who try to reinvent their lives in a rural setting, in a remote village in Galicia with a starry sky. If it’s paradise for them, it’s hell for their neighbors from which they try to escape at all costs. “Land and property rights are two important themes in the story. Because life in the countryside, supposedly idyllic places, is not so easy and there are thousands of conflicts,” Sorogoyen warned.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
