2023-09-02 06:59:48
The author of Pianist and of Rosemary’s baby lives in Europe safe from American justice, which he has been fleeing for more than 40 years following a conviction for illegal sexual relations with a minor.
Persona non grata in Hollywood, he has also seen his situation change in France since the controversy surrounding the César de la direction obtained in 2020 for I accuse, while he was targeted by new charges of sexual assault. He is now considered by some as one of the symbols of a certain impunity. Questioned before the start of the festival on this invitation, the director of the Mostra Alberto Barbera defended himself by considering that it was necessary to make “the distinction between the man and the artist”.
In March 2022, a forum of Swiss feminist organizations: Polanski, you can talk, we can too!
Leonard Bernstein’s biopic is also controversial
In the competition, Maestroone of the most anticipated films of the Mostra must be presented on Saturday, but in the absence of its main actor and director, Bradley Cooper, due to the historic strike of actors and screenwriters in the United States.
Produced and broadcast on Netflix at the end of the year, the film presents itself as a biopic of Leonard Bernstein, who died in 1990, one of the most famous composers and conductors of all time. The American notably conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and remains in the annals for his score of West Side Storya major Broadway hit.
Carey Mulligan et Bradley Cooper dans «Maestro». — © Jason McDonald/Netflix via AP
With Maestroin the running for the Golden Lion, Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born, Very Bad Trip) looks at Leonard Bernstein’s tormented relationship with his wife, played by Carey Mulligan. In the United States, the film was preceded by a controversy: Bradley Cooper’s decision to wear in Maestro a nasal prosthesis to embody Leonard Bernstein, son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, was seen by some as a way to fuel stereotypes regarding Jews.
This choice has revived the Anglo-Saxon debate on the choice of non-Jewish actors to embody Jewish characters, which some liken to blackface, this practice long used by white actors, who blackened their faces to embody roles of black men.
The children defended the film
The three children of the composer of the musical West Side Story took up the defense of the actor in mid-August, claiming to be “perfectly in agreement” with his decision to “use tricks to amplify his resemblance” with their father. “It turns out that Leonard Bernstein had a nice big nose,” responded Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein in their press release. “We are also certain that our father would not have had a problem with this.”
The 80th edition of the dean of film festivals, which opened on Wednesday evening, has not yet found a favorite for the Golden Lion, which will be awarded on September 9. But Adam Driver’s performance in Ferrariwhere he plays the mythical founder of the brand with the prancing horse, and Emma Stone in poor creatures by Yorgos Lanthimos, marked the festival-goers.
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