Woman Unknown is the only title by a director in competition at Venice83 And it's a great movie
Woman Unknown was put at the center of the discussions around Venezia83 even before its presentation during the event. The film is in fact the only film directed by a woman (the Danish May el-Toukhy) competing at the Film Festival, a fact that has led everyone to wonder about the reason for such a shortage of professionals in one of the most important events for the industry worldwide, which has highlighted a systemic problem within the entertainment sector chain.
The issue of gender equality in Venice83 and in the film industry
It is in fact the lack of funding and investment in works by authors that often leads to a reduced number of products directed by women. A problem at the top of the issue of gender equality within the shirts of the show that should make us reflect on how it is produced, who is produced and why. Despite an a priori flaw in a work environment in which it is hoped that things will start to change, it is impossible not to reprimand the festival for the lack of foresight in saying that works are evaluated only on the basis of their workmanship. This is because a festival should act as a window on a society from which it thus excludes half of society itself, thus demonstrating a view that is too narrow. Forgetting that cinema, like all the arts, also has a value that goes beyond the mere and presumed quality.
The plot of Woman Unknown, the drama by May el-Toukhy set in the post-war period
That said, Woman Unknown speaks perfectly for itself, representing with dignity and talent the category of female directors, whose flag may el-Toukhy decorously bears in the official section of the festival. Set at the beginning of the end of the German occupation and the terror of the Second World War, the work tells of the consequences of the conflict, reflecting on what people may or may not be guilty of. At the center is the figure of Marie (Mathilde Arcel), who from the ruler of a sumptuous house is about to become the owner's wife, a wealthy entrepreneur who heads a company that produces gloves. The relationship seems to be based on honest transportation, but the young woman's social class and the patriarchal and bourgeois ways of man make the relationship fragile.
Complex and morally ambiguous protagonists
Written together with Maren Louise Käehne and absolutely free from any judgment or hesitation, Woman Unknown continues on the path traced by the director who is not afraid to bring ambiguous and problematic characters to the public, ready to fight for their survival even if it means sacrificing someone else. As with the previous Queen of Hearts, once again the author is confronted with the condition of mors tua vita mea that leads the protagonists to perform inconceivable acts. In the 2019 play, the protagonist Anne engaged in a sexual relationship with her underage godson. This time Marie must make sure that her past life does not come back to light so as to ensure the comforts of the present, as well as to stay away from the anger of a people whose resistance is surrounding, marking and humiliating all those who were in any way part of the German ranks during the world war.
The narrative style of Woman Unknown and the success in Venezia83
Even in his style, especially narrative, el-Toukhy deviates from conventions, returning a strictly auteur cinema, but of which he updates some codes. To the seriousness that this genre often contains, which also serves to establish the artistic volume and content of a work, the director and screenwriter alternates scenes whose exchanges are sustained and rhythmic, so as to give an internal rhythm to the complexity she proposes, which is reflected in the pace of the narrative. An engine that gives authority to the filmic work, and that together does not lose either the story or the spectators, who find themselves inside the drama and inside the mind of a protagonist who continues to investigate the nature of people and what can define them as good or bad. A work on which attention was high and that does not disappoint expectations. Hoping it will be a further opening to make more and more space for the authors of tomorrow and, why not, also of today.