THE HANGING SUN
Italy, UK, 2022, Director Francesco Carrozzini, With Alessandro Borghi, Jessica Brown Findlay, Sam Spruell, Frederick Schmidt, Raphael Vicas, Peter Mullan, Charles Dance, Running time 93′
After 10 days of great cinema, suggestions, surprises and delusions and on the eve of unveiling the Golden Lion Venezia 79, the honour and burden to close this edition are up to The Hanging Sun. The film by Francesco Carrozzini is out of competition.
The movie is based on the novel of the same name by the Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø and is a thriller with an international cast led by Alessandro Borghi and Peter Mullan playing a son and a father with a troubled relationship. Jessica Brown Findlay, Sam Spruell, Frederick Schmidt, Raphael Vicas and Charles Dance are the other protagonists of this noir set during a thin Norwegian summer when the sun never goes down.
Borghi is John, the son of a powerful boss who is forced to run away after having betrayed him. Heading north, he finds shelter in a forest near an isolated village that seems to belong to another age. In this village everything is ruled by religion and the sun never sets. While the line between reality and imagination gets increasingly confused, Jon’s past will force him to face his misery. With the help of Lea (Jessica Brown Findlay), a woman with great strength and the mother of little Caleb (Raphael Vicas), a curious child with a pure heart. Sadly Lea is not well-considered by her fellow villagers because they believe she’s responsible for the death of her violent husband Aaron (Sam Spruell).
Francesco Carrozzini is a well-known photographer and director of video clips for artists such as Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Lenny Kravitz and Marilyn Manson. Carrozzini was in competition in the VR selection in 2018 and part of the jury of the same section in 2019. His first time in Venice was in 2008 in the short competition with his movie 1937. In 2016 he brought the documentary Franca: Chaos and Creation out of competition. Yesterday, September 9, was his 40 birthday.
