Venice Review: Xavier Giannoli’s ‘Lost Illusions’
Period drama has a bad name, especially period drama drawn from literary classics, but there is a European tradition of grand historical films that match their sources’ canonical status with the cinematic strengths of narrative sweep and visual opulence. Think The Leopard as a peerless example: Visconti’s masterpiece is a tribute to Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s novel, but a tribute paid between equals. Xavier Giannoli’s Lost Illusions (Les Illusions Perdues), in competition at the Venice Film Festival, stands proudly with that tradition.