Luca Guadagnino has fast become a legend of the Lido thanks to his prolific output, and he’s back at Venice this evening with After The Hunt.
The film follows a college professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light. Guadagnino regular Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny also star along with Lío Mehiel, Thaddea Graham, Will Price, Christine Dye, and Burgess Byrd.
Roberts, Edebiri, and Garfield were all present at this morning’s press conference in Venice alongside Guadagnino. The press conference was robust, with several questions about the film’s politics and philosophy. There was a particular emphasis on the film’s engagement with feminism.
Discussing his intentions, Guadagnino said defiantly, “The idea of the movie is that we are looking at people in their truths. Everyone has their own truths. It’s not that one truth is more important than another.”
Guadagnino added: “And from the perspective of filmmakers and artists, how do we see the clash of truth, and what is the boundary of these truths together? It’s not about making a manifesto to revive old-fashioned values.”
Roberts was later asked whether she was worried about any controversies the film may conjure up in the wider cultural conversation. She pushed back on the idea.
“It’s such a story to me,” Roberts said. “I remember the first time I saw a film called Tender Mercies. And I just thought there was something magical about the idea that a camera just landed in a place and happened to document what was going on.”
Roberts added: “And that’s how I feel about this movie. We’re not making statements. We are portraying these people in this moment in time, and the camera has fallen from the sky in this particular moment and captures all this.”
Elsewhere, Guadagnino was asked about the film’s opening credits, which are said to be inspired by the classic font used in the credits of many films directed by Woody Allen. With a smile, Guadagnino joked, “the crass answer would be why not,” when asked why he borrowed from Allen. He then continued to elaborate.
“When I started thinking about this movie with my collaborators, we couldn’t stop thinking of Crimes and Misdemeanors or Another Woman, or even Hannah and Her Sisters. And there was an infrastructure to the story that felt very linked to the great oeuvre of Woody Allen between 1985 and 1991,” Guadagnino said.
“And I’ve played with that a few times before. I’ve used that kind of graphic and font a couple of times. It also felt like an interesting nod to thinking of an artist who has been facing some sort of problems with his being. And what is our responsibility in looking at the work of an artist that we love like him? And by the way, that font is a classic.”
The After the Hunt screenplay is by Nora Garrett. Producers are Guadagnino, Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody, and Allan Mandelbaum. The DoP was legendary filmmaker Malik Hassan Sayeed. The movie follows in the wake of ever-busy Italian director Guardagnino’s sports romance Challengers, starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, and Queer, starring Daniel Craig.
After Venice, After the Hunt will open the New York Film Festival. Amazon MGM Studios and Imagine Entertainment’s will release the film limited on October 10 before a nationwide release on October 17.
Venice runs until Sept 6.
