16 - 25 October 2014 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica
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| Geraldine Chaplin at Rome Film Festival 2014 |
The ninth edition of the
Rome Film Festival, with
Marco Müller once again at the helm for a third and final time as artistic director, has just drawn to a close. The annual
kermesse may have seen a dramatic cut in budget and consequently a reduced number of screenings this year, but there was still plenty to enjoy, with a rewarding selection of encounters with both mainstream and cult filmmakers and actors such as
Miike Takashi (winner of this year’s Maverick Director Award 2014),
Park Chan-wook,
Jia Zhangke,
Walter Salles (Marc’Aurelio Lifetime Achievement Award), and
Geraldine Chapman, as well as a varied programme of world cinema premières.
In many ways I enjoyed this festival, with its focus away from mainstream big budget movies and Hollywood stars, more than previous years - there were some truly wonderful films in this year’s programme. Russian director
Alexey Fedorchenko – inaugural winner of the Marc’Aurelio of the Future Award, a new festival prize – presented the stunning and poetic
Angely Revoluciji (
Angels of Revolution). Award-winning Chinese theatre director
Xu Ang was in Rome with actor
He Bing to present his debut film
Shier gongmin (
12 Citizens), an engaging transposition of Sidney Lumet’s
12 Angry Men exploring the contradictions and different social strata of Chinese society. The film was warmly received during its première and took home the People's Choice Award in the Cinema d'Oggi category.
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Jia Zhangke and Walter Salles on stage in Rome
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Walter Salles’ work-in-progress version of
Jia Zhangke, un Gars de Fenyang (
Jia Zhangke, A Guy from Fenyang), shown ahead of its official world première in Sao Paulo, was a fascinating, and often moving documentary about the life and work of the Chinese director, who also joined Salles for an on stage discussion after the screening.
Kamisama no iutoori (
As the Gods Will),
Miike Takashi’s latest gory, gloriously bonkers, and thoroughly enjoyable film, was given its world première in the presence of the director and its young stars
Sota Fukushi and
Hirona Yamazaki. I also loved
Dólares de arena (
Sand Dollars), directed by Laura Amelia Guzman and Israel Cardenas, with its mesmerizing central performances by
Geraldine Chaplin and co-stars Yanet Mojica and Ricardo Ariel Toribio.
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| Miike Takashi on the red carpet |
From the screaming teenage (mostly) girls who bivouacked along the red carpet from dawn on Sunday morning to see
Lily Collins and
Sam Claflin attend the première of
Love, Rosie, and later that same day,
Josh Hutcherson and
Benicio del Toro for
Escobar: Paradise Lost, to the 1980s music fans who greeted
Spandau Ballet for the Gala première of
Soul Boys of the Western World, and with
Richard Gere,
Kevin Costner and
Clive Owen on hand to add a pinch of Hollywood glamour, Müller’s festival really did have something for everyone.
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