By Stefania Fumo
VENICE, Italy, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Two films that screened out of competition at this year's Venice Film Festival explored the conflict between art and commerce, with varying results.
Premiering on Friday, the hotly anticipated A Star Is Born is the directorial debut of four-time Oscar-nominated actor Bradley Cooper, starring alongside global pop star Lady Gaga in her first role as an actress.
It tells the story of an alcoholic rock star with a hearing problem, a death wish and a heart of gold, played by Cooper, who falls in love with a struggling, insecure singer played by Gaga.
Their meeting sparks a meteoric rise in her career while he spirals downwards into addiction, until by the end of the movie their roles are reversed.
Clocking in at over two hours, A Star Is Born is peppered with thrilling concert sequences -- in which the undeniable musical skills of both leads take over the screen -- in between long, unwieldy meditations on what it means to have integrity as an artist, delivered in trite, repetitive dialogue compounded by a tepid acting performance by Gaga.
"I got to live my dream -- I've always wanted to be an actress," Gaga gushed at the press presentation of the movie, in which she and Cooper lavished praise on one another's singing and acting abilities.
In comparison, the biting art-world satire Mi Obra Maestra (My Masterpiece) by Argentinian director Gaston Duprat stands out like a small gem.
Packed with punchy, irreverent dialogue and zany plot twists, this unpretentious movie focuses on the lifelong friendship between a suave, sophisticated Buenos Aires gallerist (Guillermo Francella) and a once-successful, cranky, foul-mouthed painter (Luis Brandoni) who has fallen on hard times.
"I try not to intellectualize too much," Duprat told Xinhua about his film, which touches on profound themes of friendship, aging, and loss while maintaining a light, humorous tone.
"It's about not taking oneself or others too seriously," explained Duprat, whose movie The Distinguished Citizen won the Volpi Cup at Venice and became Argentina's Oscar submission in 2016.
"We wanted to make a movie that we would enjoy making and that regular people would enjoy watching -- which is very difficult to achieve."
The Venice Film Festival, now in its 75th edition, runs through Sept. 8.
