All the shades of Noir are on show in Milan. Last-minute addition to the program: the hotly-anticipated premiere of “Rumours,” a dark comedy with an all-star cast headed by Cate Blanchett at her dazzling best
The 34th edition of Noir in Festival, which raises the curtain on Monday, December 2nd, at the Casa Manzoni, under the guiding spirit of Giorgio Scerbanenco, treats itself to a genre-bending debut one day early, on Sunday the 1st at 5:30 pm, at the Libreria Rizzoli. The guest star is journalist, author and anchorman Maurizio Mannoni, who takes us behind the “crime” scene in the world of television, in a conversation with a famous RAI Radiouno speaker, critic John Vignola. Mannoni’s virtually cinematic narrative is the novel Quella notte a Saxa Rubra (La nave di Teseo), with twist after twist up to the words ‘The End’.
One surprise after another: that’s the motto of this year’s festival of all things noir, directed by Giorgio Gosetti and Marina Fabbri, and unfurling in Milan until December 7th at its five memorable venues: the Cinema Arlecchino – Cineteca Milano, IULM University, the Casa Manzoni, the Libreria Rizzoli Galleria, and the Teatro Franco Parenti, which hosts the winner of the Raymond Chandler Award, America’s greatest living woman writer, Joyce Carol Oates, on December 5th, in an evening event presented by Antonio Monda together with La Milanesiana, conceived and directed by Elisabetta Sgarbi.
Walking its customary tightrope between film, literature, comics, and new media, Noir in Festival 2024 serves up, in and out of competition, some of the most original thrillers of the year. It all gets going on Monday, December 2nd, with a startling new masterpiece in competition, courtesy of France’s Alain Guiraudie: the director of Stranger by the Lake is back with a provocative twist on the dark comedy, Miséricorde (Misericordia), with its star Félix Kysyl on hand. The same evening, also at the Cinema Arlecchino, the series Gangs of Milano, the sequel to Blocco 181 touches down, ahead of its 2025 debut on Sky and streaming on Now, for a sneak peak at Bèn Dàn, episode 6 of the series directed by Ciro Visco, which sees the rapper Salmo in the star role as Snake. In attendance at the event, besides the director, stars Salmo and Elisa Wong and two more in the cast: Alessandro Piavani and Andrea Dodero. Also on hand: jurors Chiara Caselli, James Jones, Fulvio Risuleo, and Letizia Toni; the Swedish filmmaker Gustav Möller, director of Sons, premiering on Tuesday, the 3rd; and the winner of the Giorgio Scerbenanco Award.
On the afternoon of December 2nd, in fact, the Casa Manzoni welcomes the five Italian authors shortlisted for Noir’s literary award, for the jury’s announcement of this year’s winner. Lastly, the final surprise on the program: on Friday, December 6th, concurrently with its UK release, Noir is delighted to announce the premiere out of competition of Rumours, the mordant black comedy by Guy Maddin, Evan and Galen Johnson, starring Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, Alicia Vikander, and Rolando Ravello.
