Venice, parade of stars on the first red carpet
VENICE. Glamour and protests were forecast and protests and glamour there were, with the shouts of the municipal employees marching against the pay cuts – even if kept far away, past the “hole” of the Palazzo del Cinema that never was – to contrast the cheerful shouts of the public and the photographers to draw the attention of the protagonists of the parade that opened the Film Festival.
Festival number 71, secularly “blessed” by the presence of the President Giorgio Napolitano, who celebrated “the Biennale Italy owes a lot to for its cultural and international prestige”, adding that he wanted to come “to Venice, unrivalled city shaken in its public representations by the recent disturbing and worrying events. The Biennale is an international pillar, Italy can restart from Venice.”
While the President dictated his statement to the journalists inside the Palazzo, outside the party started: autograph hunters’ ovation for the juror Carlo Verdone and Edward Norton, such a bad boy, cheeky and shaved on the screen of “Birdman” (the Festival’s opening film) but such a nice guy, all autographs and smiles, on the red carpet.
And with him Michael Keaton and Emma Stone (Spiderman’s girl-friend) in fake bon ton green tulle – true décolletage.
Red carpet queen – according to the journalists – Alessandra Mastronardi, "formerly” Cesaroni, sophisticated in ivory-green with a wide skirt hiding a pocket for the mobile required for all the selfies. Unannounced here is Julie Gayet (the femme fatale of president Hollande’s scandal) in lobster red, immediately after Daniela Santanchè in electric blue and matching mirror Ray-bans and following her Alessandro Sallusti.
Marina Ripa di Meana flaunts a huge hat – black ribbon (sober for her), the top model Bianca Balti is a triumph of red roses embroidered on black. Also the face-you-want-to-slap-great charm juror Tim Roth has his followers of autograph hunters.
On the stage, the host Luisa Raineri – long transparent blue dress and her husband Luca Zingaretti in the first row – had promised to be brief and that she was, to celebrate in just three minutes the cinema “a feast of stories, faces, bodies, and different worlds, far realities we didn’t know and near realities we rediscover. A magic".
The president Paolo Baratta thanks President Napolitano, the jurors, director Alberto Barbera, praises the new technological and perfect Sala Darsena, remembers the three thousand events of this Festival, recalls longingly the Fifties when 800 million cinema tickets were sold in Italy, wishing “everybody a lot of lively, interesting, intense and fun days.” The president of the jury Alexandre Desplat (who looks like Nicholas Cage’s good-looking brother and can boast many fans) pays homage to Riz Ortolani from one composer to another. Outside, a blue wall shields the shameful “hole” of the Palazzo del Cinema, opprobrium of the national celebrations for Italy's 150 years. The Minister of Cultural Heritage Franceschini assures the government is interested but promises no money, since there isn’t any: “It’s a problem, we will talk to the new administration to finish the reduced project of the Palazzo del Cinema: a lot of resources have been invested but they were used to dispose of the asbestos.” Between an afternoon thrill for the arrival of the fire brigade (silent but urgent) called because of a strong smell of burning in the Casino lift shaft, quickly sorted as a case of overheating, and the twenty course buffet with every kind of fish, meat and vegetable you might think of for the 1,000 chosen on the beach of the Excelsior, the Film Festival has officially started.
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Riproduzione riservata © La Nuova Venezia
