After a flying start, here are the downsides

After a triumphant start – our favourite remains “Wild Horse Nine” by Martin McDonagh, someone who really knows how to write before he starts filming – there were a few let-downs. We saw this coming (wisdom comes from having attended too many festivals), but the disappointment remains. The two films in competition, “Bunker” and “Company”, belong to the dreaded category of concept films – much like concept stores: shops that put on airs and sell customers an experience above all else.

Florian Zeller’s “Bunker” brings the couple Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz to the Lido, devoid of American stars. He is a successful architect; she works at a publishing house, her career held back by the fact that she works in a language that is not her own (they are Spaniards living in London). They have two daughters; at the start of the film, a neighbour who has set himself up in a former garage to get some fresh air and sunshine opens a small window overlooking their garden.

Javier Bardem – who is called Miguel in the film – is opposed to the idea. He doesn’t want to feel like he’s being watched (in fact, his house has transparent walls: spectacular, but not suitable for keeping out prying eyes). The neighbour keeps hammering away. His wife welcomes a charming writer, whilst he receives a tempting job offer. The client wants a bunker in Hawaii, capable of accommodating around twenty people. He fears that a catastrophe will wipe out humanity and wants a plan B.

Here comes – as a sort of caption to the various scenes, which are already rather slow-paced because the director has splashed out on the house and furnishings, and so shows every detail – the Moral Dilemma. Is it right to save yourself? To emphasise this and provide a counterpoint, two nervous and violent robbers arrive: they want the credit cards and the combination to the safe. The neighbour, who has been watching the scene from his unauthorised window, comes to the rescue. No one saves themselves – except the viewer, who will not fall into the trap of this glossy film.

Casey Affleck’s “Company” is a story within a story within a story. A girl at a party (in the 1950s; she introduced herself by saying she’d got lost) begins to tell a story. It’s about a girl who tells a story. The director has brought the whole family together. The film is dedicated to his parents; his girlfriend stars in it; his son Caleb Affleck, making his screen debut, plays the graceful vampire (we can’t think of any other way to describe him) who roams amongst the snow and pine trees of Colorado. But the idea for the film, Affleck explains, came to him in Transylvania. The ultimate form of the concept film is, in fact, the quiz film; viewers leave asking: “But do you think the hut was always the same? And the girls?”

Preceded by statements as bombastic as they were bold, “Una storia” arrived in the Orizzonti section: the first film directed by Anna Foglietta, starring Alba Rohrwacher and Guido Caprino. Title: “Una storia”. It could be any old story, a story about ordinary people. And this is where the viewer begins to show a certain irritation.

At least in the cinema, one would expect an interesting, well-crafted and well-written story. Here, the daughter leaves the nest to go to university, and the couple falls apart. Even to say ‘it falls apart’ would have a certain spectacular quality that the director carefully avoids. Yet – to her credit – she nurtures the belief that everyone has an interesting story to tell. She, on the other hand, puts it this way: ‘The film’s protagonist is masterfully portrayed by Alba Rohrwacher’.

She adds that she “managed the set with grace and kindness; that’s just how women are”. No one should be surprised – our note – if they don’t achieve great things. And there are few of them in the competition at the Venice Film Festival.