Outrage Beyond, Linhas de Wellington and A Hijacking

The Venice Film Festival reaches its sixth day and showcases three beautiful and very different pictures: Outrage Beyond by Takeshi Kitano, Linhas de Wellington (Lines of Wellington) by Valeria Sarmiento (both in competition), and Kapringen (A Hijacking) by Tobias Lindholm (Orizzonti competition). 

Outrage Beyond by Takeshi Kitano

After the success of Outrage, Kitano is back in the shoes of Otomo, a former Sanno family executive and clan leader who was betrayed by his own deputy Ishihara and imprisoned.

Detective Kataoka is desperately seeking a substantial promotion and obtains an early release for Otomo to shake things up at the Sanno family, which is growing exponentially.

Yakuza is Kitano’s territory and this movie is all about clan wars, revenge, codes of honour and violence. More noir than any of his previous works, Outrage Beyond is a sequel that can easily be watched and understood without knowing the first instalment.

[rating=4]

Linhas de Wellington (Lines of Wellington) by Valeria Sarmiento

Linhas de Wellington is a majestic picture of the French invasion of Portugal of 1807-1814.

Started by the late Raul Ruiz, the project was given to the director’s wife and long time collaborator Valeria Sarmiento as a gift, and realised as a wonderful fresco of the years when Napoleon tried to conquer Europe.

The cast is phenomenal, with Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich, Michel Piccoli, Mathieu Amalric and Isabelle Huppert.

The whole movie revolves around a battle that never takes place – thanks to the titular lines of Wellington.

Long-shots, incredible actors and smooth cinematography define this impressive opera.

[rating=3]

Kapringen (A Hijacking) by Tobias Lindholm

Tough and dry, the Danish picture presented in the Orizzonti (“horizons”) competition is a great example of how to effectively make a very strong and nerve-wracking picture with a limited budget.

A ship owned by a Copenhagen company has been hijacked in the middle of the Indian Ocean by a group of Somali pirates. The crew of seven is not ready for this attack and the pirates easily take control of the ships and begin a very tight negotiation.

Peter (Søren Malling), CEO of the company, decides to deal with the hijackers directly, even after being advised to hire an external negotiator.

The contrast between the professional and clean environment of the office scenes in Denmark – where executives try to balance reason and personal involvement – and the directionless disarray on the dirty and old vessel is linked by the common fear of not finding a deal. What could the consequences be? This film is the festival’s secret gem.

[rating=4]

Filippo L’Astorina, the Editor