contessanally: #BiennaleCinema2023 - #Venezia80 - 80th Venice International Film Festival - Favorite Movies

Official still - photo credit M. Abramowska - courtsey La Biennale di Venezia

#Venezia80 - Out of Competition

The Palace

Roman Polanski

The Palace Hotel is an extraordinary castle designed at the beginning of the twentieth century and located right in the middle of a snow-covered valley in Switzerland. Every year it hosts wealthy and pampered guests from all over the world in this Gothic and fairytale atmosphere. On the eve of the year 2000 they have all gathered for an unrepeatable event. A host of waiters, porters, cooks, and receptionists are there to cater to their bizarre needs. Hansueli, the hotel’s dedicated fifty-year-old manager, inspects the staff prior to the arrival of the guests, stressing to them that while it may be the dawn of the new millennium, it is not going to be the end of the world. What is actually about to take place is a war fought over the vagaries and eccentricities of the hotel’s guests. The various stories combine to produce an absurd and provocative black comedy. It is New Year’s Eve of 1999: not just the end of a century, but the conclusion of an entire and controversial millennium, and the threat of the Millennium Bug hovers in the air.

Main Cast

Oliver Masucci, Fanny Ardant, John Cleese, Bronwyn James, Joaquim De Almeida, Luca Barbareschi, Milan Peschel, Fortunato Cerlino, Mickey Rourke

photo credit M. Abramowska - courtsey La Biennale di Venezia

"For almost half a century I have been visiting the Gstaad Palace in Switzerland, host to an extremely rich and polyglot élite, served by the proletariat of the hotel staff. These two worlds are, each in their own way, hilarious, at times even grotesque. A gulf separates them, commencing with their political views. The only thing that unites them is the figure of the hotel manager, who takes care of everyone and tries to satisfy them all, a task that in truth means he sometimes has to suck up to both guests and staff. He uses his diplomatic skills to find a way out of the most improbable situations.The idea of making a film about this exotic world came to me at once. It had to be a comedy, a rather brusque and sarcastic one, stern in its attitude toward the characters of the film, but not without a hint of indulgence and affection."

Director's Statement

Roman Polanski

ASAC -Giorgio Zucchiatti - courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

The Red Carpet