2025 Telluride Film Festival Report – Day 1 – ‘La Grazia,’ ‘Blue Moon,’ ‘Hamnet’

Attending the Telluride Film Festival, there is one thing for certain: you should always make your plans in pencil. Things change, conflicts between desired showings force tough choices, and surprises can make you shuffle what you see when. If you don’t learn to not struggle against the current and just go with the flow, you’ll not only save yourself aggravation and disappointment - you’ll very often find gems you didn’t have on your radar. That definitely is how my day started.

Even the most ardent cinephile can’t see every important film or keep up with every talented filmmaker. I knew of the highly esteemed works and reputation of writer/director Paolo Sorrentino, but I have to admit, I had yet to see any of his films. Well, I have to hat tip Festival Director Julie Huntsinger for filling that empty dance card slot for me. One of the few perks of being press at the festival is that we’re allowed to sit in on the surprise Patron special screening as the first film of the Show. This year, Huntsinger picked the latest from Sorrentino, La Grazia.  By her own valuation, it is probably his best film yet.

Someone seated behind me afterwards described it as this year’s Conclave, and I agree with the comparison. Though this film is set around a fictional leader of Italy in his last six months of a seven-year presidency. Being a former lawyer and judge, and a devout Catholic, he faces moral dilemmas in his last decisions in office. The power dynamics and weight of the crown feelings are similar to the papal picture. Sorrentino is just as accomplished as a director and writer in expressing the subtlety, economy and nuanced performances while crafting the perfect imagery and utilizing great sound design in a complete whole only deliverable by a proven, consummate filmmaker.

Brilliant and breathtaking (literally at times) this is a must-see masterpiece. If you only see one Sorrentino film (like me), this is a good one. And it proves what I keep telling people, the law doesn’t have to be boring!

Ethan Hawk is a busy man this weekend. He not only had a premiere of HIGHWAY 99, a double album documentary he directed, but also starred in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon and accepted a silver medallion for his career achievements, handed to him by Linklater. From the looks of things, Hawk is just coming into his stride.

Blue Moon is a glimpse into one day in the life Lorenz Hart, the lyricist who teamed with Richard Rodgers and created a slew of iconic tunes for stage and screen. A tragic life spiraling out of control, mostly at his own doing, the dramatization deftly points out how life can reward and punish in equal measure, often for the same traits in a person. Linklater uses a great script and visual artifice to create a unique environment, like watching a stage musical, without the music. The rapid-fire dialogue, delivered mostly by Hart, keeps the heartbeat going even as we watch his break at nearly every turn.

This is an Ethan Hawk like you’ve never seen him before. His skill set is taken to new heights playing the very short man. He disappears in the roll, filling every line with desperation, yearning and literary wit. It’s a performance that will definitely garner awards attention. I feel Hawk’s busy weekends are not stopping anytime soon.

Chloé Zhao is a visceral filmmaker. You feel her connection to the natural and spiritual worlds in all her works. She wasn’t sure she was the right person to take on Hamnet. The story is based on the book by Maggie O’Farrell about the toll the death of William Shakespeare’s only son wrought, told mostly from the perspective of his wife Agnes. Luckily, while searching for a way into the tale, Zhao found herself in Telluride at the festival two years ago. There she serendipitously met both Paul Mascal and Jessie Buckley, and she’d found her Will and Angnes.

To tell this story of angst, loss, and sorrow, Zhao created a period piece that looks and feels like a documentary made in the time period. The grit and hard work, the nature and divine, the creative and mundane all play their part in setting the stage for the tragedy to play out. The two stars are stellar each in their place, but the greatest performance is the raw, instinctual performance of Buckley, destined to head the lists of best actress discussions. Mescal fully matches the punch in deftly portraying the wordsmith desperately trying to find the words to deal with life.

The alchemy that brought all these elements together may have come from witchcraft for all we know, but it’s a voodoo that gets everything right in the telling.

So thus endeth my first day. More fest awaits on the morrow. (OK, I’ll stop.)

Telluride Film Festival runs August 29 - September 1