No one gets canceled at the Venice Film Festival, really no one

Like some Venetians lining up, the film festival takes little account of any emotional state. Venice does not cancel, it is now said. Why? For the 80th edition, the festival has invited a #MeToo trio of Luc Besson, Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. Cannes did not dare to do that in May with the new films of the last two.

All three directors have been the center of attention in recent years due to various allegations of sexual abuse. Your files are different and complex and must be assessed individually. The fact is: Allen and Besson are legally innocent. It is different for Polanski, the acquaintance, but the victim, then still a minor, has forgiven him long ago. Shouldn’t you invite all three of them?

The excitement beforehand proves that the well-known scandals still have great potential. For the millionth time, the media can discuss the question that can never be answered definitively: can, must, may, yes, should one separate art from the artist? Venice Festival director Alberto Barbera said in the ‘Guardian’ that he was not a judge who judged the misconduct of others, but a film critic who judged the quality of films.

Let’s take him at his word. While Luc Besson continues to make interesting contributions to the genre, Woody Allen hasn’t enjoyed lasting success in the last decade. The heyday of the urban neurotic who never wanted to grow up is long gone, what was once witty now seems banal. Like a record that used to contain charming chansons. Nowadays you hear worn out hits.

Allen’s new film – the fiftieth and possibly the last if the fully US-branded director can no longer find funding – is not without charm and is well acted despite all its seriousness. Two people who meet again by chance, a young woman and a young man, who have known each other since school, begin an affair – with murderous complications.

«Coup de Chance» is set in Paris, bathed in autumnal chestnut light and shot in French. It’s just a pity that a film that emphasizes the power of chance so much relies so heavily on the compulsively constructed ending. Woody Allen himself was enthusiastically received at the Lido as one of the few stars present.

With Polanski, on the other hand, Venice really missed the point. His extremely fecal-heavy comedy The Palace, shot in Gstaad, is a low point, both for the festival and for Polanski’s career. Downtown is a luxury hotel that descends into chaos when a clichéd horde of old, rich and face-ops invade on New Year’s Eve of 1999.

The producer complained at the press conference that “The Palace” had still not found a distributor in France, blaming the director for the controversy. But the terrified silence in the movie theater was proof that no joke had worked. It only remains for us to wish that Polanski does not end his career with the image of a dog having fun with a penguin.

Some want to completely ban unwanted artists. The others react defiantly: Now we really invite them, with us there is no cancellation culture. Both sides are wrong. Freely adapted from Oscar Wilde: A work of art is not moral, but good or bad.

And the perception of art is changing. No need to subscribe to Woody Allen and Roman Polanski as a thank you for past masterpieces. Just have the courage to politely decline and keep your promise of artistic quality.