Bombay Rose from India and Japan’s The Truth will herald Venice 2019 - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Bombay Rose from India and Japan’s The Truth will herald Venice 2019

ByGautaman Bhaskaran, Hindustan Times
Jul 24, 2019 04:27 PM IST

A look at two films — Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda and Gitanjali Rao’s Bombay Rose — which have made it to Venice.

Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new work, The Truth, will open the 76th Venice Film Festival on August 28, while Gitanjali Rao’s animated feature, Bombay Rose, will herald the sidebar, Critics Week, the following day.

Bombay Rose has been directed by Gitanjali Rao.
Bombay Rose has been directed by Gitanjali Rao.

Kore-eda clinched the Palm dÓr at Cannes 2018 for his Shoplifters, a moving saga of a group that comes together as a family and lives by stealing. The movie has just been commercially released across India.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Interestingly, The Truth – the auteur’s first outing in the French language and titled La Verite – was hotly tipped to be at Cannes last May, but missed the deadline, probably because the film was not ready.

The Truth has another first to its credit. Venice’s Artistic Director, Alberto Barbera, has since 2012 gone with a Hollywood work to open his festival. First Man, Downsizing and La La Land have been some of them. But this time, he has picked a French title helmed by a Japanese legend, an amazing combo it seems.

A scene from The Truth.
A scene from The Truth.

The Truth also has an incredible cast. French actor Catherine Deneuve essays a movie star, Fabienne – a darling of the men around her who are irresistibly drawn to her. But when she publishes her memoirs and invites her daughter, Lumir (Juliette Binoche), and her husband (Ethan Hawke) from New York to Paris, the mother-daughter meeting does not go too well. “The reunion between mother and daughter will quickly turn to confrontation: truths will be told, accounts settled, loves and resentments confessed,” according to a synopsis.

Also read: Priyanka Chopra, Virat Kohli only Indians on Instagram Rich List 2019 topped by Kylie Jenner. Here’s how much they earn

Kore-eda filmed The Truth in Paris over a 10-week schedule, and he said: “The cast is prestigious, but the film recounts a small family story that takes place primarily inside a house. I have tried to make my characters live within this small universe, with their lies, pride, regrets, sadness, joy, and reconciliation.”

Rao’s Bombay Rose will enjoy the pride of being the first ever Indian animation work to open the Critics Week, an important sidebar.

Rao has made five animated shorts, including Blue, Printed Rainbow, Orange and Chai. Printed Rainbow won three awards at the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2006. Rao played an important role in Shoojit Sircar’s October.

Bombay Rose deals with the life of a flower seller.
Bombay Rose deals with the life of a flower seller.

Bombay Rose outlines the life of a flower seller, who has to make the choice between her family and love. The plot begins on the pavements of Bombay and flies into the realm of the fantastic. Painted frame by frame, Bombay Rose is a poignant account of those people who migrate from rural and small-town India to cities for a livelihood. Bollywood songs underline the pathos of their lives.

Rao said: “I have always wanted to paint stories about people who live and love in the streets of Bombay, never become success stories, yet their struggle for survival makes heroes out of them. This is the city with its cast of unsung heroes and heroines that I want to share with the world and why I started this labour of love 6 years ago. My hand painted short movies has travelled the globe and I have found connections to my films in the most unusual places. From Cannes to Kanpur. These fans of my stories give me confidence that my first feature, Bombay Rose, about simple people with their simple yet impossible dreams can connect with people around the world.”

Venice will announce its full list of movies on July 25 in Rome.

(Gautaman Bhaskaran has covered the Venice Film Festival for over 18 years.)

Follow @htshowbiz for more

Oscars 2024: From Nominees to Red Carpet Glam! Get Exclusive Coverage on HT. Click Here

Get more updates from Bollywood, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On