Showing posts with label Golden Globes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golden Globes. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Laura Pausini: Pleased to Meet You, Recounts the Life of the Italian Megastar Gracefully

By José Alberto Hermosillo

The new documentary on the life of the Italian singer Laura Pausini is an intimate, emotional, and personal portrayal—with much-unseen footage. It’s a total crowd-pleaser!

The documentary is narrated in the first person by the singer herself. The journal presents Laura Pausini as a strong woman with solid family values deeply bonded to her loved ones. The feature emphasizes the Italian star’s international presence and the risks she took to attain everlasting glory in the music industry.
 
 
The non-linear project starts with Laura Pausini winning the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, “Io si/Seen,” from the 2021 picture “The Life Ahead/La vita davanti a sé.” The thirteen-time Oscar nominee Diane Warren, Pausini, and Niccolo Agliardi composed the song. The emotions for the entire Pausini family continue, some of them in Italy, Laura in Los Angeles with her first Oscar nomination.

The daughter of an extraordinary musician and song composer, Pausini’s musical origins began on a fateful day when she missed her train to school. While studying ceramics at the Art Institute Romagna, she became inspired to write a song about missing the train. At eighteen, she was invited to participate in the Sanremo Italian Song Festival; she became the youngest contestant to win the competition in 1993.

Greatness and fame came suddenly for the talented Italian teen. She subsequently took the opportunity to sing with the most significant Italian singers, such as Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, and Eros Ramazzotti.
 
“Solitude/The Loneliness” was one of her first international hits. Her first tour was
  Holland, Belgium, and Germany.
 
As her music has allowed her to travel the world, Pausini is familiar with many cultures yet feels closer to Latin American culture. She started singing Spanish at nineteen and traveled to Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico multiple times, developing a special closeness to the Latin people. Her first hit in Spanish was “Se fué/He’s Gone.”
 
After the talented Paolo Carta came into her life, they became family. He had four children from his previous marriage. Laura loves all of them the same, and for a long time, she longed for children of her own, yet it took time to accomplish the long-cherished dream of motherhood until 2013.

Pausini frequently asks herself what she would be doing other than singing if she had not won at Sanremo and muses that she may have become a housewife or architect. She couldn’t imagine other than a singer - there was no plan B.

Based on an idea of her own, the documentary adopted a non-chronological approach, connecting Pausini’s lifestyle in the present day perfectly with her Italian roots. The project also presents Laura Pausini as a trooper, a combative warrior who never gives up, and a sensitive woman full of that special tenderness that characterizes her - always remaining humbly grounded to her culture, family, fans, and close ones.

The narrative showcases the singer as a winning woman who longs for a “normal life.” After so many concerts and tours, Pausini wants to be with her family, friends, and neighbors, just like an average person. 

An important lesson Pausini learned was that music can modify people’s thinking. In this connection, the documentary is subtly underscored, with a minimal amount of screening time of some of the greatest hits, including “Tra te il mare/Between You and the Sea” (my favorite), “Vivimi,” “Inolvidable” and “One More Time.”

For more than thirty years of a successful career, Pausini’s maturity helped her begin producing her records. Her first Grammy came with “Listen.” Instead of basking in the winner’s joy, Pausini sinks into the despair of her loneliness. Alone at the hotel on that glamorous night, she orders a hamburger. The waiter brings her a bottle of champagne, and the two drank to her accomplishment. Subsequently, Laura won four Latin Grammy Awards.

“Laura Pausini: Pleased to Meet You” focuses exclusively on Pausini’s point of view and provides the viewer with a limited vision of her story without reaching out to other people in the industry—managers, colleagues, song producers, and others who may see the world around her differently.

In terms of editing and breadth of information, the documentary directed by Ivan Cotroneo (“One Kiss,” “Kryptonite!”), Is an emotional roller coaster appealing to the vast majority of viewers? Nevertheless, it doesn’t attain the mastery of other award-winning music documentaries that focus on women singers. For instance, Asif Kapadia’s “Amy” on the life and career of British singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse; Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” on the tragic life of the Mexican-American legend; or R. J. Cutler’s “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” a film on the teen sensation who took the world by storm. However, the charm of the Italian singer is sure to please everyone, even if we don’t speak Italian.

Streaming now on Prime Video, “Laura Pausini: Pleased to Meet You” invites American audiences to get to know one of Italy’s most famous singers, a charismatic woman with a prodigious voice who has conquered it all, including herself.

Film critic Jose Alberto Hermosillo and Italian singer Laura Pausini at a Christmas autograph signing in Los Angeles. FestivalinLA ©2016.

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Sunday, December 1, 2019

Les Misérables: Boyz n the French Hood

By José Alberto Hermosillo

COLCOA FILM REVIEW: Brilliant, compelling, and unmerciful masterwork, “Les Misérables” is a fresh new approach to Victor Hugo’s magnum opus to today’s urban conflicting suburbs in France.

The winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes 2019 endures universal themes of inequality, marginalization, greed, violence, and social injustice.
 
Lodj Ly, director of  Les Misérables at COLCOA. Photo Jose Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019
 
Director Lodj Ly, influenced by his experiences during the 2005 big-city project riots, adapted Les Misérables from his 2017 Award-Winning short film.

The timing of this astonishing film debut couldn’t be better. Lodj’s story departs from the eruption of collective euphoria on the streets of Paris, motivated by the victorious celebration of FIFA’s Soccer World Cup Championship won by France in Russia in 2018. The event unified the country and sparked its social differences as well.
 

The film moves from the iconic Parisian monuments to the not-so-charming projects of Montfermeil, 10 miles east of Paris. Inside those tiny apartments in the middle of the raucous building construction area, people pile up, surviving with limited resources and difficult circumstances.

 
As the camera moves in, conspicuously, we start learning more about the composition of the new French society integrated by Africans, Muslims, and Middle Eastern immigrants. Their descendants: hundreds of youngsters out on the streets, as a chorus of this never-ending operatic composition trying to tell us something more meaningful and substantial about people’s struggles.

From the very beginning, the antagonistic groups line up. Among those - are the gypsies owners of a colorful circus - the black immigrants, the mafia guys, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the shady cops.

The officers’ actions trigger out-of-control chaos, and the anarchy could jeopardize their well-being. The compromising situation can be overwhelmingly dangerous and explosive as a Molotov cocktail.

In her more serious role as Le Commissaire, Jeanne Balibar (known for “Barbara” and “I Hate Love”) is instructing her police officers about the concept of “solidarity” at the police station: “There is no solidarity without a team; we are alone; you only have each other.” She introduces a new member, Brigadier Stéphane Ruiz, played by Damien Bonnard (from “The Trouble with You” and “Dunkirk”), to the squad. The other two officers, Chris and Gwada (portrayed by Alexis Manetti and Djibril Zonga), are hesitant to accept the rookie’s addition. 

Inside the patrol, Chris takes the lead, acting above the law and feeling like the new sheriff in the town of a cowboy movie. He thinks he can do whatever he wants.

 
The officers’ felonies start by harassing teenage girls at a bus stop. They must also deal with merchants and informants at the open market or mediate between gypsies and Muslims over a stolen lion cub.

 
As the story unfolds rapidly, only some trends become fully resolved. The audience wants to follow up on a video taken by a drone operated by a kid who witnesses police brutality. We want to know if the video went viral and what the reaction of its viewers is in the story - after all, things get out of control effervescently. 

Lodj Ly, director of  Les Misérables, and actors Damien Bonnard and Djibril Zonga at COLCOA. Photo Jose Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

This new and more visceral adaptation of Les Misérables was inspired by witnessing police brutality by the director Lodj Ly. 

He said his film was hard to finance because of its subject matter. It took him nearly ten years to make. Two hundred people participated in his epic production. The young actors were primarily children from the immigrant community with no experience, hope, or future. By having them participate in this film, they attained a new meaning to their lives. 

In Lodj Ly’s words, he compromises with the marginalized, underprivileged immigrant community. Therefore, he is creating a film school to introduce children to the visual arts and let them tell their stories through powerful images of their surroundings. 
 
Lodj Ly, director of  Les Misérables at COLCOA. Photo Jose Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

French society unifies by winning the World Cup. Soccer gives the feeling of belonging to a country. But when the game is over, everyone goes back to their differences.  

The reality presented in Les Misérables shakes the viewer by juxtaposing collective happiness with the anarchy catapulted by corrupt cops. The Award-Winning project vividly shows young people struggling with no future in an alienated society.

The French film is a catharsis with a small window open for hope and the possibility of constructing an inclusive society shortly, idealistically thinking. 

 Djibril Zonga, actor. Photo: José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019
Lodj Ly, director of  Les Misérables. Film critic José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019 
 
 
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Festival in LA ©2019

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Elle: The New “Basic Instinct” with a “French Twist”

By José Alberto Hermosillo

“Elle” is a sophisticated, twisted erotic-psychological thriller charged with a high voltage of anxiety, desire, and animosity. It will stick with you right under the skin for a long time.

Director Paul Verhoeven returns to his European roots with a high content of sexual deviations, perversions, and obsessions - constantly pushing in his films the boundary-line beyond the imaginable.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ©2016 SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

The role of “Elle” is custom-made for Isabelle Huppert (“Things to Come,” “Amour,” “The Piano Teacher”), who perfectly portrays Michele LeBlanc, an upper-class, high-ranking French executive and producer of violent video games charged with bloody erotic sequences that alter the subconscious. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF ©2016 SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

The responsibilities of Mrs. LeBlanc have changed her into an uptight, snooty, hard-hitting woman.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ©2016 SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

After a freak home invasion and rape, her mind is obsessed with the assault and can’t stop thinking about it. 

The event repeats itself, over and over, inside her head and in constant incursions.

“What if…” she could defend herself and counter-attack the burglar.

“What if…” she would be in control and get pleasure out of it.

“What if...” she could take revenge against her attacker...

The thoughts of being a woman in power (not only in her job but in her sexuality) create a high level of instability, anxiety, and cravings in her mind and body.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ©2016 CINE MATE

Mrs. LeBlanc would like to know who attacked her. She suspects everyone, but she has no evidence of who he could be. 

She has many haters, starting with her ex-husband and her closest collaborators.

Some of her detractors are her daughter-in-law, her confused and immature son, and her mad and sophisticated mother, who has a relationship with a much younger man.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ©2016 SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

The mother wants her daughter to heal herself and become more “normal” by visiting and forgiving her incarcerated father, a “monster” serving a life sentence for committing a horrendous crime that Michele witnessed when she was a teenager.  

ISABELLE HUPPERT. PHOTO JOSE A HERMOSILLO ©2017 FESTIVAL IN LA

“Oh…” is the original name of the novel by the French-Armenian writer Philippe Djian, which David Birke outstandingly adapted to the screen.

PAUL VERHOEVEN, PHOTO JOSE A HERMOSILLO ©2017 FESTIVAL IN LA

Director Paul Verhoeven really knows his craft. In “Elle,” he places every element in a suitable space and time. When he became famous in Hollywood with the Cult Classics such as “RoboCop,” “Basic Instinct,” “Total Recall,” and “Show Girls,” he already had a long trajectory in Europe.

PAUL VERHOEVEN, PHOTO JOSE A HERMOSILLO ©2017 FESTIVAL IN LA

In the Netherlands, his homeland, he made his most controversial works, “Turkish Delight,” “Diary of a Hooker,” “Katie Tippel,” “Soldier of Orange,” and “The 4th Man.” 

Verhoeven continues making films with the same quality and freedom in Europe and in Hollywood as well.

Many directors have successfully explored this genre with sex, violence, and fetishism, such as Vicente Aranda’s “Amantes/Lovers: A True Story,” Bigas Luna’s “The Chambermaid on the Titanic,” Luis Buñuel’s “Susana” and “Belle de Jour,” and François Ozon’s “Criminal Lovers” and “Young & Beautiful.”

“Elle” is the official French submission for the Academy Awards 2017 in the Foreign Language Film category. Isabelle Hupper won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture—Drama.

Verhoeven’s experience in Hollywood makes “Elle” unfold with perfect cinematography, fast-paced editing, and elongated moments that enhance the actors’ performances to a whole new level of importance.

In “Elle,” every actor is impeccable. Isabelle Huppert is Magnifique!

PHOTO COURTESY OF ©2016 AFI FEST

Michele’s anger and obsessions make her unconscious of her own reality. At one point, she must figure out how to get out of this sickening situation in one piece and regain control of herself, but her environment drags her down into deeper waters.

As the sexual assaults become more frequent, the structure of “Elle” could be interpreted as “Jesus descending into hell.”

The technical achievement of “Elle” makes it seem like a non-traditional French movie, but because of its sexual content, we can say “Elle” is a very French movie. If you dare to see this film, you will know what I mean.

Paul Verhoeven, Elle.
Paul Verhoeven, Elle. Film Critic José Alberto Hermosillo www.festivalinla.com 


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