The difficulty of being fathers with inadequate teenagers

Hugh Jackman in “The son”: “In the film and in life I am a fragile parent”

Stories of fathers in awe, welcoming, perhaps inadequate, vulnerable, so good as to make their children feel cornered, stories of expectations and hardship, of failures and redemptions and stories of mothers who reject motherhood to the extreme and of adolescents whose mental health is severely tested these days. Stories of families trapped in too much love. The red carpet ignites for Hugh Jackman, starring with Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby of the moving The son by Florian Zeller (in competition), for Casey Affleck’s play Dreamin ‘wild by Bill Pohlad (out of competition), the stars of the eighth day of Venice 79.

It is also the day of Stefania Sandrelli Bianchi 2022 award and protagonist of the film at the Days of the Authors, Water and anise, special event, first work by Corrado Ceron. “It is an award for length of service, I have given so much to the cinema – she says – but I have not finished, I will not be a former actress as long as I will also play a very small part”. And by Edoardo Pesce who with the newcomer Yothin Clavenzani brought to Orizzonti Ghost night by Fulvio Risuleo. The Ukrainian flag flutters on the red carpet in the afternoon: it is brought by the director Evgeny Afineevsky and the delegation of the documentary out of competition Freedom on fire: ukrainès fight for freedoman impressive collection of testimonies of cruelty and very serious violations of human rights in the theater of war.

«After Ukraine, it will be the turn of another country. This century has brought us a dictator and if we don’t show the world what is happening today we are committing a crime, ”he said.

The son it is a punch in the stomach and very topical on the theme of youth discomfort, the inadequacy of adolescents and at the same time of parents, vulnerable, helpless. «Yes in this film as in life I am a fragile father. Director Zeller asked us just that: to show our vulnerability. However – says the 53-year-old Australian actor – this film has changed me as an actor, but also as a father compared to my 17 and 22 year old children ». The story, will go into the hall with 01, is taken from a play: the seventeen-year-old Nicholas (Zen McGrath) is unable to process the divorce of his parents, he can no longer live with his mother Kate (Laura Dern), he is in full existential crisis and he is happy only when he takes refuge in memories as a child. He moves in with his father Peter (Hugh Jackman), who has recently become a father with his new partner Beth (Vanessa Kirby). Peter tries to deal with Nicholas, perhaps for the first time, but the distance between him and the boy is hard to bridge. “There is a very important line in the film: love is not always enough. All the people who are part of this film love it very much and yet it is not enough ».

Also in Dreamin ‘wild there is a son and a father and a family who love each other. Bill Pohlad’s film about the true story of the instrumental and vocal duo Donnie and Joe Emerson, Fuori Concorso is a symphony about adolescence, a moving drama about family, passions to follow, success and failure, parents’ expectations of children and feelings of guilt for not being up to par. “I have experienced my share of failures. Broken hopes and collapsed dreams. I’ve been in a lot of movies that seemed like hits and then it didn’t. These experiences of mine have served me for Dreamin ‘Wild»Says Casey Affleck, Ben’s brother, therefore Jennifer Lopez’s brother-in-law. –