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Europa Press
Tuesday, 3 September 2024, 12:12
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Malaga-born actor Antonio Banderas, competing at the 81st annual Venice Film Festival with the film Babygirl by Halina Reijn, says many of the movies he has been involved with in the past could not be made today.
"I used to come to these festivals - Cannes, Venice... - with films that couldn't be made right now. Films that would receive a lot of criticism because they would be politically incorrect. We are in such a politically correct world that we have reached the point of self-censorship," he said during a press conference in the northern Italian city that will host the Venice Film Festival until 7 September. "So when I read Halina Reijn's script I thought: someone who thinks differently. A person who has the strength and courage to put on screen things that we all think," he added.
The Malaga actor touched on feminine desire and power, and reiterated that art should be outside "censorship" as he spoke about his pride in being involved in the erotic thriller.
"We are prisoners of our own instincts, we are animals. Nature is not democratic, we didn't ask to be humans, animals, plants. We are tied to what we are. This film is about a woman who talks about it in a very free way and I'm proud to be part of something like this at a time when we are all in boxes and movements. Art should be out of this," Banderas said.
Babygirl is competing in the official selection for the golden lion, the highest prize awarded at the festival. In the film, Banderas appears alongside actress Nicole Kidman, who plays an executive director who embarks on an affair with her intern, played by Harris Dickinson.
Kidman pointed out how "liberating" it has been for her to play the protagonist of the film, which is also about "consent". "Babygirl is about desire, inner thoughts, marriage, truth, power and consent. It is the liberating story of a woman through Reijn's eyes. It was very profound and liberating to be in her hands, I felt very nurtured and in fact we were all very protective of each other, the dynamic felt real. I'm proud to have been invited to a festival like this, where at last films are being made with women at the helm," the Australian actress said.
Director of the feature film, Halina Reijn, said that although the main character is a woman with an "existential crisis", it is also about masculinity and how different generations can "learn from each other".
"It has been an honour to work with this incredible cast. It's definitely a film about a woman with an existential crisis, about desire and how different generations can learn from each other. And I'm very happy to present it in Venice. But on the other hand, it's also a film about masculinity and above all, about the question 'how can I love myself in all my facets'. I hope it is a tribute to self-love and liberation," Reijn added.
Beetlejuice opened the show on 28 August
The Venice Film Festival was opened on Wednesday 28 August by filmmaker Tim Burton and his new film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which had its world premiere at the Palazzo del Cinema del Lido.
During the presentation of the film, Tim Burton said it is a "personal and real" work and that it comes after a few years in which he has been "disillusioned" with the film industry. "Beetlejuice gave me back the energy to do the things I like to do with the people I like to do them with, and it was even more special with the new cast, who fit perfectly into its spirit," added the filmmaker.
The feature film, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe, is a sequel to the 1988 horror/comedy film that Warner Bros will release internationally from 4 September and will hit US theatres on 6 September.
Almodóvar competes with his first English-language film
The Spanish film industry is represented both by Pedro Almodóvar, who competes for the golden lion with his first film in English, The Next Room; and by the new film by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño, Marco, in the orizontti section, a category separate to the main prize. Also representing Spain will be Rodrigo Sorogoyen's series Los años nuevos, which will not compete for the main prize.
There is also a Spanish presence in the Argentinian film Kill the Jockey, by Luis Ortega, with the actress Úrsula Corberó.
The Next Room stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore alongside John Turturro and will be released in Spanish cinemas on 18 October by Warner Bros.
The film competes with other important titles such as the second part of Joker, again directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, as well as titles by renowned filmmakers such as Pablo Larraín (María, starring Angelina Jolie), Luca Guadagnino (Queer, starring Daniel Craig), Dea Kulumbegashvili (Abril) or Walter Salles (I'm still here).
Meanwhile, not competing for the main prize, the festival will screen feature films such as Wolfs, the thriller by George Clooney and Brad Pitt; Baby Invasion, by Harmony Korine; the documentaries Riefensthal, by Andres Veiel or Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989, by Göran Hugo Olsson. Alfonso Cuarón's Observada will also be in the series category.
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