Stars at Noon
Stelle a Mezzogiorno
by
MOVIE CATEGORY
The scene is set in modern Nicaragua, but the plot comes from the most classic of noirs: a charming and enigmatic Englishman becomes the center of attention of an American journalist, who seeks a way to escape from a reality that prevents her from moving as she would like. Both of them dive into a desperate sexual relationship with a high level of alcohol, in which secrets and lies have the same density as the distant Western world from which they both fled, to which they both perhaps want to return, with which neither of them has solved their problems. Tropical, languid, erotic noir, it is a possibility for Claire Denis to unleash all the sensual strategies of her gaze, sewn here on the sweaty and voluptuous bodies of Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn. The music, the intoxicating atmosphere, the heat of the climate, force the two protagonists into a dangerous spiral.
DIRECTORY
She was born in Paris in 1948 and lived in Africa until 1961. She graduated in cinema from IDHEC, the French film school, in 1972, and had the opportunity to assist directors such as Jacques Rivette, Andrej Tarkovsky and Wim Wenders. Her cinema will address issues such as colonialism since her early works such as Chocolat (1988) and S’en fout la mort (1990), but her films will focus on more carnal and suggestive investigations of desire with the classics Beau Travail (1999) and Trouble Every Day (2001). Her movies travel around the world, from Cannes with Chocolat to Berlin (with Beau Travail and Avec amour et acharnement in 2022), from Locarno (where she won the Pardo d’Oro with Nénette et Boni in 1996) to Venice (with Vendredi soir in 2002). Her latest film, Stars at Noon (2022), was awarded the Special Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival Jury.