68th Venice International Film Festival
Director: Marco Müller
31st August > 10th September 2011
Orizzonti
CISNE (SWAN) - TERESA VILLAVERDE
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Synopsis
Vera is a singer in her thirties; she is back in Lisbon for the final performance of her concert tour. The heat and beauty of Lisbon makes one want to be happy. Pablo, the companion she selected from among the many who answered her questionnaire, helps her through the sleepless nights. He has no family, but wishes he had. Vera concerns herself with the mysteries surrounding Pablo’s life. Vera is not afraid of the night; she is not afraid of anything. Vera has no ties. In her house, far from anywhere, is Sam, the man she loves. They only understand one another at a distance, and in writing. The house is hers, but Sam has turned up to stay. He asks her to leave because he needs to be there alone; near her things but not with her. She is hurt by this but agrees and goes away, leaving him there on his own. A child in Pablo’s care commits an irredeemable act; he kills a man. Something needs to be done; the child must be saved. Vera gets involved. She takes the child under her wing. By saving the child, she saves herself. And she saves Sam. The child is the portent of a serene uncertainty.
Video: Press conference
Vera is a singer in her thirties; she is back in Lisbon for the final performance of her concert tour. The heat and beauty of Lisbon makes one want to be happy. Pablo, the companion she selected from among the many who answered her questionnaire, helps her through the sleepless nights. He has no family, but wishes he had. Vera concerns herself with the mysteries surrounding Pablo’s life. Vera is not afraid of the night; she is not afraid of anything. Vera has no ties. In her house, far from anywhere, is Sam, the man she loves. They only understand one another at a distance, and in writing. The house is hers, but Sam has turned up to stay. He asks her to leave because he needs to be there alone; near her things but not with her. She is hurt by this but agrees and goes away, leaving him there on his own. A child in Pablo’s care commits an irredeemable act; he kills a man. Something needs to be done; the child must be saved. Vera gets involved. She takes the child under her wing. By saving the child, she saves herself. And she saves Sam. The child is the portent of a serene uncertainty.
Video: Press conference
6 September 21:00 - Sala Perla
7 September 17:45 - Sala Pasinetti
ORIZZONTI
Cisne (Swan) by Teresa Villaverde
- Portugal, 104'
language: Portuguese - s/t English, Italian
Beatriz Batarda, Miguel Nunes, Israel Pimenta, Sérgio Fernandes
language: Portuguese - s/t English, Italian
Beatriz Batarda, Miguel Nunes, Israel Pimenta, Sérgio Fernandes
Director’s Statement
“The swan with its wings sings this“ wrote Alcman, a Greek poet, in the 7th century B.C. That line is all we have left today of the poem; no more has reached us. We will never know what the swan sang, but we do know it sang. I like the elusiveness and uncertainty of things. I am more and more convinced that everything happens in the intervals. It saddens me that cinema has become almost completely digital, and that the black spaces between images have been lost. I value liberty in cinema and in life. I wanted to make a film about people who are free and unafraid to plunge from the mountaintop.
“The swan with its wings sings this“ wrote Alcman, a Greek poet, in the 7th century B.C. That line is all we have left today of the poem; no more has reached us. We will never know what the swan sang, but we do know it sang. I like the elusiveness and uncertainty of things. I am more and more convinced that everything happens in the intervals. It saddens me that cinema has become almost completely digital, and that the black spaces between images have been lost. I value liberty in cinema and in life. I wanted to make a film about people who are free and unafraid to plunge from the mountaintop.
