Torino Film Festival 2025
The 43rd annual Torino Film Festival is winding down, and it’s been a lot of fun, as always. Last year I only had the chance to see one film, but this year I made it to three screenings. The Festival retrospective this year features Paul Newman, so naturally I had to see at least one of his films on the big screen. More about that down below.
Honored Guests
Honored guests include Juliette Binoche, Spike Lee, and Vanessa Redgrave (among many others), who all received awards from the Festival. Binoche presented the Italian premiere of her directorial debut (in which she also stars), In-I in Motion. The film is a documentary retracing the development of a 2008 performance she staged with dancer collaborator Akram Kahn. In that performance they explored getting outside of certain comfort zones (she as a non-dancer, he as a Muslim dancing with a woman, for example).
Many other actors also received the Stella della Mole Award, including Antonio Banderas, Jacqueline Bisset, and Terry Gilliam. I also saw Sergio Castellito’s name on the list. I liked him a lot in Non ti muovere (Don’t Move), which also starred Penelope Cruz, who I remember played an Italian speaker in the film.
Without further ado, let’s get into the screenings I caught this year.
Ailleurs La Nuit (Elsewhere at Night)
Newest of the three films I watched this year is Ailleurs la nuit (Elsewhere at Night), a film by a young Filipina-Canadian director, Marianne Métivier. The film is in competition with a Canadian release date of October 16, 2025. The description of the film intrigued me, in part because it stated that the movie was in French and Tagalog.
The story begins with a focus on Marie (played by Camille Rutherford), a sound artist who has moved from the big city to the middle of the woods. She searches for inspiration while her companion, Nico, a scientist, fights a caterpillar infestation which endangers the surrounding forestland. According to the press kit, the inciting incident which supposedly sparks changes in all of the characters’ lives is the arrival of a young woman, Noée, who catches the eye of both Marie and Yan, a resident farmer. I personally didn’t pick up on it as being the inciting incident.
We Never Return
About two-thirds of the way through this very slow-paced movie, we shift to the city, where we begin to follow Jeanne, who has been in regular phone contact with Marie in the first part of the film. Jeanne lives near Eva, a young Filipina woman who has immigrated to Canada with her mother. We never return to Marie or hear from her or the other characters in the forest.
Obfuscated
I’m a fan of character studies, both in books and film. There were many things to like about Ailleurs la nuit, namely the high level of acting and certain shots. That being said, the link or common thread among the four women was obfuscated. I don’t need somebody to give me what the character wants Disney-style (in the first five minutes) but I just couldn’t really make out the connection.
The shift to the city scenes, with no further word from the other characters, disappointed me. It was jarring, too. It’s a pity because I wanted to like all the characters more. Or, should I say, I wanted to like their stories more. In particular, I liked Yan, the young farmer who has inherited a dairy farm. He practices salsa at night and dreams of leaving but he loves the animals, too, so it’s difficult. However, even his conflict leads nowhere, which I guess in many instances gives an accurate portrayal of life. But sometimes we want more out of our movies and here the story was simply too subtle for me.
Camille Rutherford and Holy Motors
I noticed that Camille Rutherford had a minor role (only voice) in Holy Motors. What a wild movie that was! Presented at the 30th edition of the Torino Film Festival, I was lucky enough to see the screening. Leos Carax directed this extravaganza for the mind and senses. Incomprehensible? I can’t say, but…I loved it, and I understood it better than Ailleurs la nuit (sorry…)!
Specific memories of that film include Eva Mendes in a beautiful dress (there’s a little more to it than that, but I don’t want to give anything away); Kylie Minogue with no makeup (singing an incredible number as part of the movie); and Denis Lavant performing a rousing accordion song in a church. I’m not posting a link to that because the official video has been removed by YouTube, but I have to share the trailer.
Erupcja (Eruption)
Director Pete Ohs‘s out-of-competition feature film, set in Warsaw, is Erupcja (Eruption). After his 2023 move to Poland, Ohs decided to try his hand at a “foreign” film (the movie features English- and Polish-speaking characters. As he stated in the press materials, we experience foreign films differently and, “By making my own foreign film, I was excited to find out what was lost and found in translation.”
Bethany (Charlie xcx), rather than go to Paris with her long-term boyfriend, Rob (Will Madden), suggests Warsaw instead. Rob plans a special trip, making reservations in advance to various restaurants and for other things so he can, as we discover, have a perfect few days with Bethany. Bethany, on the other hand, uses the trip as a chance to reconnect with Nel (Lena Góra), someone we find out she has known since a school trip years prior.
Mt. Etna
While there, Mt. Etna erupts, a fact which hits Bethany and Nel one way; Rob another; and Claude (Jeremy O. Harris), an American friend of Nel’s, in yet another way. How they view this event mirrors how they all view the world. Bethany and Nel look at it as a type of serendipity, and an excuse to behave with abandon. Volcanic eruptions have been the common thread for all of their meetings. It means something. Rob, ever the pragmatist, points out that, statistically speaking, a volcano erupts somewhere in the world once a week. And Claude wonders how an event that “kills people” can be viewed as special or serendipitous.
A short, enjoyable film, I appreciated certain stylistic choices, such as the soundtrack, which included Nasze Pierwsze Słowa (Our First Words), by Alicja Majewska. Agata Trzebuchowska, star from the heavy-hitter Oscar winner Ida, plays Ula, an on-again, off-again love interest of Nel’s. In particular, I enjoyed how the characters viewed the volcanic eruptions. Those views become stand-ins for how the characters live — and decide to proceed — with their lives. An interesting piece of trivia is that Charlie xcx managed to shoot her scenes while she was doing her Brat world tour.
The Towering Inferno
When I decided to see Paul Newman in The Towering Inferno, I never imagined it would be so sadly relevant, with the screening coming only one day after the horrible Tai Po District tragedy in Hong Kong this week. How easy it was going to be to lump this movie in with other Seventies disaster smashes like The Poseidon Adventure and Airport. I had planned on talking about how The Towering Inferno still seems relevant in this post-9/11 era, and that we don’t have to go back too far to witness a horrifying skyscraper fire. It was, after all, only a few years ago that the Grenfell Tower fire took place. Instead we have this current tragedy of epic scale.
So to say that I was somewhat reluctant to head to the theater the day after developments in Hong Kong is a bit of an understatement. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I would be watching a fictitious fire on the big screen, which was the original draw for me. That and the all-star cast. It’s truly incredible the number of big names in The Towering Inferno. Alongside Paul Newman and Faye Dunaway we can find Steve McQueen, William Holden, and many, many others.
Keeps You Engrossed
Despite its length, The Towering Inferno moves along and keeps you engrossed. Scary and mostly realistic (it’s a blockbuster, after all), it makes you think. Actually, let me rephrase that. It’s scary as hell, and makes you think. With a clear storyline from start to finish, the action and interpersonal drama keep you engaged. It tugs at the heartstrings. Some things hit in an eyeroll kind of way, like the bed in Paul Newman’s office. Faye Dunaway awaits him at his desk and his secretary asks, absolutely unfazed, if she should hold all his calls, knowing full well the answer. Another scene that had me thinking shows Fred Astaire and a lamppost in the Promenade Room.
Those Blue Eyes
Not only does Paul Newman have those blue eyes, so does Steve McQueen, and the amount of machismo radiating from the screen when they’re together is just about enough to start a second inferno. Talk about a couple of badasses!
Quick Sidenote
Quick sidenote: not only did Jacqueline Bisset star in The Towering Inferno, she also starred in Airport, the original of the series of movies about ill-fated flights. As I said above, she was here in Torino this week to receive one of the Stella della Mole awards, along with Antonio Banderas and Spike Lee. What a coincidence! I wasn’t able to pick her out among the party guests in the movie, though.
Another movie I thought of as I was watching Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen is The Thomas Crown Affair, the original one from 1968. Several years before they appeared in The Towering Inferno, they starred in the original painting caper film. One of their scenes in that movie must be at the top of the list for scenes that smolder. I may have to watch them again soon.
Overall Impressions
Run, don’t walk to see The Towering Inferno. For a movie that came out 51 years ago, it’s still highly entertaining. It’s telling, too, that it received a round of applause at the end of the screening, meanwhile the theater was totally silent after Ailleurs la nuit. Erupcja, too, is worth a viewing. It’s not an earth-shattering story, but it does show you to what lengths we go to tell ourselves something is a coincidence. And that the coincidence means something.
A Website Upgrade
Last note on this year’s film festival. They finally, finally got a website upgrade this year. It always seemed to be so unwieldy and it was like pulling teeth to get information about the films on offer and also buy tickets. But this year it worked seamlessly. Finally, a painless experience! It’s the little things….
Have you ever seen The Towering Inferno? What about some of the other Seventies disaster movies? Any other films on your radar recently? Let me know in the comments below.
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