Towards a bright future: Moretti, maestro of self-mockery (review)
In his new psychoanalytical comedy, the Italian wonders about the future of his art. With a particularly stimulating scathing irony
Nanni Moretti is not really what one could call an “old filmmaker”, even if at (only) 69 years old, the maestro sits on almost half a century of an uninterrupted career with maddening consistency. This new opus invites us to take stock or even come full circle. Giovanni, the hero (camped by Moretti) is a nostalgic filmmaker who still believes in his past ideals (dreamy and triumphant communism) and in his art (he does not hesitate to give lessons to brainless young people). Giovanni is however more and more disconnected with a present that promises nothing good: his producer wife wants to leave, his daughter is getting gentrified and his Frenchy producer (Amalric as jumpy as it is annoying) organizes him an ubiquitous date. at Netflix. Towards a bright future can be read as the duplicate of Moretti’s last immense film to date, Mia Madre (2015). The roles are reversed, the muse Margherita Buy at the center of Mia Madre as a director faced with the loss of her mother, she could more or less count on her brother (Moretti). She is now the most loving woman living in the shadow of her invading filmmaker husband. A certain cynicism tinged with irony has replaced the seriousness of feelings. If the truth of reality is implacable, fiction can re-enchant everything. Nanni Moretti, like his anti-hero – mutt, reactionary but whose grating irony saves appearances – knows, however, that time is running out. The flesh is sad, alas, and we have seen all the films.
By Nanni Moretti. With Nanni Moretti, Margerita Buy, Mathieu Amalric… Duration 1h36. Released June 28, 2023
