Confessions at Venice

At the 57th International Film Festival held in Venice recently, the press meet was charged with emotions quite extraneous to cinematic concerns. Yet it generated an uncanny ambience of its own, says GOWRI RAMNARAYAN.

"I HAVE a personal problem with the Pope. He is not aware of the colossal wastage in the world. Didn't St.Thomas of Aquinas say "Don't waste"? ... We have killed rivers, polluted the air, turned the seas into garbage dumps, and there is no more room left for humanity on planet earth. After the Pope's visit to Colombia, five million children were born there who are bound to become guerrillas, soldiers, drug dealers and killers. Why doesn't the Pope take them to the Vatican and house them there?"

The thunder rolls from renowned Colombian writer Fernando Vallejo, at the press conference following the film "Our Lady of the Assassins" based on his novel, directed by Barbet Schroeder. The storm burst after an innocuous question about whether the Pope-baiting, atheistic film could be commercially released in Italy. In fact it was addressed to Schroeder, but Vallejo suddenly began to spew fire. After a vibrant pause he added, in softer tones which still throbbed with electric currents, "No, the Pope will not take them to the Vatican. It is not his sorrow. For the church such problems do not exist. Christianity has forgotten everything."

The thunder cracked again, this time from the vociferous hands of journalists from many parts of the world attending the press meet at the Casino, on Lido Island, during the 57th International Film Festival in Venice (August 31 to September 9). We had been somewhat puzzled at the start, not quite able to grasp what the man was getting at, though stunned by Vallejo's obvious fury and grief. But as we realised the import of his words, whether we agreed with him or not, we had to respond to that stimulii of genuine passion.

There was dissent too, of course. And strong at that. An emotional Italian voice protested against the sacrilege of trouncing Catholicism. "You would not have dared to do this to the Dalai Lama or a Rabbi or an Imam. I am deeply offended."

Vallejo flashed back,"Well, I am deeply offended by God! Instead of happiness, why does he send us pain, grief, old age and death?"

Subsequent queries, though unrelated to matters of faith, began nevertheless with some response to the anti-religious stance of the film. "I have no problems with atheism," "I positively agree with the film's view on faith", or "I do not see this as a major issue in the film". And the entire session became charged with emotions quite extraneous to cinematic concerns, generating a singular, uncanny ambience of its own.

Finally, a gruff voice suggested that the film was not really atheistic in intent, it was more a despairing cry from the heart for the loss of faith in our times. And no, the author would not agree.

But do not imagine that all press conferences at Venice were cast in some metaphysical mould! One European lady with a fruity voice invariably addressed everyone with the same question, "Do you feel out of place in Venice?" Presumably she wanted to know if they felt at home in the old city. Answers varied - from lazy drawls "N-n-no-o!" and "we have been here before, you know!" to squeals of "Lovely spot!"

Would all those answers be collected and made into a montage of photos and quotes, I wonder!

Surprisingly, Hong Kong film maker Tsui Hark, whose explosive action thriller "Time and Tide" had viewers literally gasping for breath over its speed and digital effects, had a quietistic reflection to share. (This maker of blockbusters certainly appeared more modest than most of the VIPs on the dais we saw everyday, and the least egoistic).

He had felt a Marco Polo sense of wonder when he saw Venice from the sky on his aircraft, struck by the ancient city as the old traveller had been by Hark's homeland China. "As we came closer and closer to the ground, I told my wife that I was amazed by the isolation of Venice in the modern world, its retention of traditional grandeur and character at a time when everyone talks, thinks, appears and behaves alike. I mean ... well ... just look at this hall!"

His sweeping gesture took in the whole chamber where the daily press meets were held, whose ceiling seemed to raise itself higher every time you glanced up, its imposing doorways hung with velvet curtains, chandeliers sparkling above, and gilt-edged Graeco-Roman frescoes on the wall. In front of you the Golden Lion, the festival insignia, glowered down with a grave majesty.

Runaway hits had not changed Hark's craving for values, which he had tried to infuse into his action-packed film through the prologue of the biblical Genesis, and an epilogue where women symbolised hope for humanity trapped in a no-exit hell. "In my film I say look head on at life, and you will understand it, find the values to live in harmony with your fellowmen."

As he talked, you knew that here was someone who looked hard at challenges, ready to change with the times, hoping only that his work would record the contemporary moment for future grasp. "Technology affects not the film maker alone, but the ways in which people receive information and entertainment. Perhaps, pretty soon, the viewer can himself invent something out of your film with technological devices. The film maker has to gear himself up into this new mentality."

Understandably, film maker Abdel Kechiche "La Faute A Voltaire" (France/128 min) was quizzed about the problems of illegal immigration, which he had depicted with empathy and concern. Many films made on the Meditteranean coast focussed on this issue, showing how deeply it affects the nations in that region.

Once again south European voices broke into psychoanalysis while the Nordic queries remained at a pragmatic level of funding sources and the means of distribution.

Finally, at the press meet for Woody Allen's rollicking farce "Small Time Crooks", the Italiano was up again to ask the protagonist Tracy Ullman (Woody A himself was sadly absent), "Did you make a thorough study of the supercilious, adulterous, class conscious behaviour patterns of the New York elite vis-a-vis the gaucheries of the nouveau riche?"

The lady took a deep breath, broke into an irrepressible grin, and exclaimed, "Oh my Gawd! And I had thought this was simply a romp of a film!"

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