21/05/2005

All the colours of the London upper class family – with its secrets, its dissatisfactions, its betrayals – are in Chromophobia, the Festival closing film.
A prestigious casting (Kristin Scott Thomas, Ralph Fiennes, Pénélope Cruz, Ian Holm, Ben Chaplin) for the second feature film by the British Martha Fiennes, who, with her previous film Onegin, received many awards and a nomination at the BAFTA Awards.

Martha Fiennes, who has always been living in an artistic environment (her father was a photographer, and her to brothers are confirmed actors) shot Chromophobia from a complicated script she wrote herself in which adultery, psychoanalysis, cosmetic surgery and yoga are the main themes, mixing irony and tragedy. According to the producer Tarak Ben Ammar the film "is a sharp reflection on modern life in big cities". Indeed the plot of Chromophobia could take place in New York, Paris or Tokyo, so universal is the theme of the family breaking (Wim Wenders also deals with it in his film in competition in Cannes). "The "nouvelle vague" of the American independent films was the inspiration for the film", admits Martha. "After Onegin the critics labelled me a customs movie filmmaker whereas I wanted to tackle a contemporary, risky and original story". What about the sense of the title ("the fear of colours")? "It’s a pun, there can be many meanings as they can be none of them. It's a piece of art bought by the character played by Kristin Scott Thomas."

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(Translated from Italian)