‘A Brighter Tomorrow’ Review: Nanni Moretti Returns to Cannes With His Tics and Obsessions Laid Bare
thewrap.comThree Floors” opened with a high-profile belly flop, festival-stalwart Nanni Moretti returns to Cannes with “A Brighter Tomorrow,” a comeback of sorts that also airs a list of grievances and could serve – should need arise – as a closing statement.Not that it likely will.
Funny and endearing in some places, and typically grumpy and old-fashioned in others, “A Brighter Tomorrow” should, at very least, keep Moretti far from director’s jail for years to come.
And if the sheer existence of this title proves he wasn’t detained for very long, Moretti was very clearly shook by the experience, and very clearly used this follow-up to work through those anxieties.As in his earlier beloved films “Dear Diary” and “April,” Moretti plays a version of himself, holding the screen as Giovanni (guess what Nanni’s short for), a Roman director about to shoot an historical drama about the schism in the Italian communist party following the Soviet Union’s 1956 invasion of Hungary.
Few in his entourage are committed to the project. If the lead actors, played by Barbora Bobuľová and (longtime Moretti fixture) Silvio Orlando prefer to improvise a love story in lieu of Giovanni’s dour script, financier Pierre (a typically wiry Mathieu Amalric, switching between Italian and French) might have never had a dime to begin with.As to his wife and producing partner, Paola (Margherita Buy, of course), well, on the professional front she’s busy producing her first standalone film, and on the domestic front she’s planning a divorce.
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