Second day of surprise in San Sebastián . On Friday it was Bono (that of U2, not Pepe) who left the crowd 'picueta', which Joaquín Reyes would say characterized as, in effect, Bono. And on Saturday it was the turn of Neil Jordan who, as president of the jury , demanded for himself the same photo at least that of a Penelope Cruz in ecstasy. And there the Irishman presented himself with a record between far-fetched and far-fetched . In truth, the Golden Shell for the Brazilian production Pacificado seems only original, perhaps debatable, but falls into the category of betting.

The tape signed by the American Paxton Winters that runs in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro can be discussed his erratic script that basically is limited to collecting misfortunes: police violence, poverty, tragic fate, teenage pregnancy and even incest. But on its part the scarce good of effectiveness is placed , of the nerve. With a 'thriller' structure, the film advances making the topics of what from before 'City of God', by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, with ease and good tone, can be considered a genre.

Nothing to discuss probably. Or if. In an official mid-tone section in which no film has stood out with the neatness and due demand , perhaps it would have made more sense to point to proposals of much more risk such as 'noir' A dark-dark Man , by Adilkhan Yerzhanov; or dramas of the murky solidity of The audition , of Ina Weisse, or, already put, to the cruel naturalism of Rocks , of Sarah Gavron. What no longer admits any defense is that everyone is ignored and becomes Pacified in the closest thing to a masterpiece that it is not. Not far away . This was done by the jury by awarding him, in addition to the debatable Golden Shell, the best actor award (Bukassa Kabengele) and even the best photography (Laura Merians). It would only have been missing that Bono was again in charge of delivering them all . Definitely, disappointment is this. Once again.

And in the strange line of the most notable of the decisions, it was everything else. That the Special Jury Prize went to Proxima , by Alice Winocour, is close to the unstable terrain of nonsense . The melodramatic and allegedly feminist adventure of the astronaut played by Eva Green is a rosary of common places far out of orbit . The last shot of horses galloping to the rhythm of the music gives a lot to think about. And nothing good. It is assumed, or so tradition says, that this is the prize for highlighting everything that arises in the limit . It is misunderstood, therefore, that the locker occupies a tape so close to the routine.

For the infinite trench, the direction and screenplay awards ended up . Not so fair both . Or more the first than the second. The staging shines above all in the first half of the film, when the trio formed by Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga plays to describe the burden of the absence of light and look in which a man locked in lives itself. We talked about the moles that in the Spanish Civil War hid in their homes from the wrath of the enemies and there they remained hidden and sandwiched for decades. However, the film suffers from something like overstrain in a second half that is too anecdotal and, therefore, poorly written, with a script that is perhaps somewhat improvable.

And then the actors arrived. And with them, sanity arrived . Or almost. Next to the protagonist of Pacificado , the very young Greta Fernández and the veteran Nina Hoss were designated 'ex aequo' as accurately as original. The two offer their interpretations from within, from the certainty that everything important takes place in just a blink , in a millimeter, in a fraction of a second.

The first for his work in The Daughter of a Thief , by Belén Funes, and the second for his work in The audition , by Ina Weisse, make up from the right distance two characters who would say one reflection of the other. The two suffer, the two fight, the two explode. But deep inside. One has just arrived and the other defines all the latest German and European cinema . A photo together, please.

Finally, things in the paragraph of the fund that nobody reaches, is the matter of the lost opportunity . In an official section where not only a third of women directors participated but a good part of the best works were theirs with special mention to those of Ina Weisse and Sarah Gavron , who knows if it was not the time to approach normality, is say, bet on a medal winners this time in feminine. In my opinion, it would not only have been the right thing but the right thing . But this may be another story. Or maybe it's still the only story.

And so things, the jury left us as yesterday Bono did. 'Picuetos'. But the other way around.

PALMARÉS FESTIVAL OF SAN SEBASTIÁN 2019

GOLDEN SHELL: 'Pacified' by Paxton Winters
JURY SPECIAL: 'Proxima ', by Alice Winocour.
ADDRESS: 'The infinite trench' , by Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga
ACTRESS: 'Ex aequo' for Greta Fernández , for the daughter of a thief (of Belén Funes), and Nina Hoss , for The audition (of Ina Weisse)
ACTOR: Bukassa Kabengele , for Pacified
SCRIPT: Luiso Berdejo and Jose Mari Goenaga, for 'The infinite trench'

PHOTOGRAPHY: Laura Merians, for 'Pacified'

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