The Golden Spike of the Seminci worships cinema with the Indian film 'Last Film Show'

The short definition of 'Last Film Show' - the film by Pan Nalin that, with a few drops of populism and a lot of commitment, the jury of the 66th edition of

crowned with the

- could be something like a new version less caramelized and slightly more raw (and without Morricone) of 'Cinema Paradiso'.

But like all lazy descriptions, however obvious, it doesn't do justice. The chorus is similar, but the melody runs deeper and very careful not to fall into each of the infinite traps that the film itself sets. And it tends to us. And so, little by little, what was guessed in his close-ups and in his declaration of intentions ("Thank you for lighting the way ...", it is read) as a reformulation of the same, of the fascination for the fascination of light and the cinema, little by little it rises as an emotional, transparent and extremely honest refutation even of each one of the common places that it treads.

Nalin, who gained worldwide notoriety with his 2001 debut 'Samsara', tells himself in the story of the boy Samay hell-bent on making his city's Galaxy cinema and

. With one foot on Leone and the other on Satyajit Ray or Renoir, the film manages to stay at all times in a place so warm and recognizable as it is perfectly self-aware. It is scary that the film does not have any shame in recognizing the masters in which it expressly stands and by means of a label that admits no doubts.

And there they appear from the Lumière to Eadweard Muybridge through David Lean, Stanley Kubrick and Andrei Tarkovsky. But, in reality, that only confirms the absolute dedication and honesty, not naivety, far from both the burdensome academicism and

, with which Nalin tells us a story that, in truth, is his. And hurrying, aside the colors of geography, that of all of us.

The film narrates the existential adventure of its protagonist

, his poor social class, his short-sighted math teacher and the thick tradition that solidifies everything. But also, a step further, to the progress that inevitably ends with the cinema that the young Samay made his own. It is more recognition than nostalgia, more love letter than simple tribute. It is the story of a fight that is also the story of the simple exercise of growing up. And so.

For the rest, it could be argued if 'Last Film Show' deserves more than great and irrefutable films of the season that competed with it. In the official section, don't forget, there were many of the best productions screened both in Venice and before in Cannes. There was

, 'The event', by Audrey Diwan, or the winners on the Croisette 'Compartment No. 6' by Jugo Kuosmanen and 'The worst person in the world' by Joachim Trier, or 'The card counter' by Paul Schrader. It is logical to think that the jury chaired by Deepa Metha decided to give visibility to what does not yet have it. And that, being debatable, seems justifiable if not fair.

The rest of the list of honors endorsed the self-imposed mission of giving a voice to what does not yet have it. And in this way, he awarded the Silver Spike to the prodigy of Neus Ballús who, after being presented at the Locarno Festival, landed in Valladolid convinced of erasing the line that separates fiction and reality with an almost suicidal vocation. 'Six ordinary days' is the story of three workers in a small plumbing and electricity company on the outskirts of Barcelona who suddenly become the most transparent, fun and cruel (all at the same time) window to the world of work and to all the rest.

The Swiss

became a best director for his veristic and extremely naked look of the foster homes in 'La fam'.

And the featured performers were Yury Borisvo for 'Compartment No. 6' and Yilka Gashi for 'The Hive'.

The two are far from the most obvious that could be the works of Renate Reinsve in 'The worst person in the world' or Oscar Isaac himself in 'The card counter'.

But that's why juries exist.

And the judgments' decisions.

Thus, the Seminci closes with a notable Golden Spike framed in an official section, which, if not a rigorous premiere, is very brilliant.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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