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BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- We've been treated to a kaleidoscopic view of humanity through the lens of 21 films vying for the Golden-Lion award at the ongoing Venice Film Festival. Among them are two films dealing with psychological trauma, 'From Afar' and 'Remember'.
'From Afar' tells the story of Armando, a middle-aged businessman who suffered trauma from his father when he was younger. Now, he is buying the sexual favours of young men on the streets of Caracas. One day, he meets Elder, a young street hustler with whom he forms a dysfunctional relationship.
It's the debut film of Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas.
"It's a story also about parenthood. Lack of father, lack of father from both characters. And the relationship between them is also a relationship about the father and a young person who never had a father. I come from a continent, South America, where the father is not at home. The mother is always taking care of the children. The father is there but he leaves. And I have this obsession about telling stories about fatherhood in South America," Vigas said.
For the lead actors, making the film was a rigorous process.
"He's a very, very excellent director. He shoots at least 23, 24 times for one take. And so it was very hard but it was wonderful as well at the same time. We got very precise - the atmosphere and feeling that he wanted from the two of us," said Alfredo Castro, an actor.
The film received its festival premiere on Thursday afternoon.
Egoyan's film explores disconnection from history
Meanwhile, Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan premiered HIS latest film, "Remember".
It follows Zev, a man who discovers that the Nazi guard who murdered his family some 70 years ago is living in America under a new identity. He sets out to get revenge, but he is in the first stages of Alzheimer's so that his mission doesn't go as planned.
"There's no real subtext to the performance. I mean as you watch it, you realize it's quite a radical performance. You don't see that very often, and most of the time when you have an actor, they're playing some other interior life, but he has made a choice not to do that at all. And it gives the film a very unusual tone. But because of his age, you completely buy that," Egoyan said.
The film also highlights the damaging consequences of ignorance about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"It was actually shockingly callous the way it was treated before, especially after World War One. It was that you just had to somehow man up or you just kind of had to get over it, and we didn't understand that this was a real condition," Egoyan said.
The Venice Film Festival runs until this Saturday, when the winner of the Golden Lion - the festival's top prize - will be announced.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
