Woody Allen fantasizes about his cinema at the "Rifkin's Festival"

• An old film historian sees his wife escape him for the beautiful eyes of a French filmmaker camped by Louis Garrel.

• "Rifkin's Festival" allows Woody Allen to pay a final tribute to the filmmakers who founded his cinephilia.

• This tasty comedy will be the penultimate film of the 86-year-old filmmaker.

We haven't heard from Woody Allen since

, released in 2019. Here he is again with  

l, a cheerful comedy that pays homage to the founding films of his cinephilia.

“I loved cinema passionately, confides the 86-year-old director to

And I would like to give the public a taste for all these classic films that I have loved.

»

Rifkin's Festival

takes place at the San Sebastián Festival, in Spain, where Mort Rifkin, a disillusioned film historian (Wallace Shawn who irresistibly reminds me of Woody Allen), sees his press officer wife (Gina Gershon) being flirted with by a filmmaker avant-garde (Louis Garrel in French lover intellectual).

"Louis Garrel has the charm and the sense of humor necessary to feed this character", believes Woody Allen.

Elena Anaya and Sergi Lopez round out a cast busy debating and loving between filming sessions in a sun-soaked city.

Fantasy and respect

The subject of his film allows Woody Allen to scratch the cinema as it is practiced today.

“My disaffection came little by little, insists the filmmaker.

Among recent films, there is only

by Paul Thomas Anderson that I really liked.

I no longer find my account, neither in blockbusters, nor in films that are too intellectual.

Through the fantasies of his hero, a jealous old film buff, Woody Allen pastiches all those who have marked him, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini or Ingmar Bergman, of whom we will remember a parody of The

led by Christoph Waltz in the role of the death.

“There is a playful side of mad cinema lovers in these fantasies, he admits.

But also an immense respect for the directors I quote.

»

And after ?

, his 49th feature film, will be followed by a final opus that the director will shoot in September in France, "a country that has always supported me", he says.

Then the director will definitely bow out.

"Fifty films is a good number to stop," he said.

At 86, I have less energy and I've lost the sacred fire to look for funding and experience the stress of filming.

»

Although he has always denied them, the accusations of sexual assault by his adopted daughter have undoubtedly deeply affected Woody Allen, especially as they have led many professionals, in the wake of the MeToo movement, to turn the blame on him. back.

The director then had much more difficulty setting up his projects, he who had accustomed the public to presenting him with one feature film per year and who had not released one for three years, before this excellent

.

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