Claude Lelouch's 'Finalement' premieres at Venice Film Festival

Claude Lelouch's new film 'Finalement' premiered Out of Competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. The road movie follows Lino, a successful lawyer played by Kad Merad, who abandons his job, family, and friends after being diagnosed with incipient frontal lobe dementia, described as 'the madness of feelings.' Lino wanders aimlessly on foot, encountering disparate and extraordinary characters, both real and imaginary, including a defrocked priest and a porn film director. The film explores themes of escape, identity, and memory, with Lelouch offering a romantic, melancholic comedy that suggests oblivion is acceptable when one has memories. The director, aged 87, stated, 'If a person does not suffer, there is something suspicious.' The film's portrayal of music as a pacifying force contrasts with its subversive potential. Critic Carlotta Petracci notes the film may feel indigestible to those with much still to discover.