Robert Zemeckis
Allied

Perhaps because, like many born in the '80s and '90s, I practically grew up and was initiated into cinema with his films (no need to specify which); perhaps because, in my opinion, he is not always recognized with the rightful status of a master that he deserves for the countless innovations and stylistic experiments he brought to Hollywood cinema; but his Allied (subtitled "A Hidden Shadow" by the unfortunate Italian distributors, thus spoiling a good chunk of the film) was the film I was most looking forward to in January 2017, this January already so rich with stimulating releases and among the most anticipated for months, also in view of the upcoming Oscars (various Arrival, Silence, La La Land, Split...).

And my expectations were not disappointed: in a film where the anthology scenes pile up one after another (in particular, I would like to mention Brad Pitt's card game in front of the German officer - who, curiously, is the same one who understood Fassbender's intentions in Inglourious Basterds -, the car sex scene during a sandstorm, the sudden shootout where several Nazis are killed, the childbirth during a bombing...), the twist regarding Marianne Beausejour's identity comes like a cold shower.

With a notable technical depth and a large budget, Zemeckis, even in a film that is substantially linear, also confirms his narrative mastery in transitioning from one context, geographical and genre, to another. Citing several classics from the '40s and from a noir and espionage first part in a historical/war setting, where events and time move relatively fast, it shifts to the drama of a man who suddenly sees his personal and emotional certainties crumble before the doubt, to be refuted within just seventy-two hours (which will then make up the bulk of the entire work), that the wife and mother of his daughter is an enemy spy.

Supported by two memorable main performances (in my opinion among the best of Pitt and Cotillard), even the melo ending works well integrating with the rest.

Allied was uncharitably criticized a lot by the US press (not new to self-overestimation in every field), but Zemeckis, even though sometimes his works have not always been unforgettable (among the latest, I think of Flight, which left me with more than a few perplexities about the rhetoric of certain parts in contrast with the grandeur, even there, of the main scenes), is still considered a reference point in American cinema and, if already in the previous The Walk he offered moments of great emotion and suggestion, with this last work he achieves, in my opinion, one of the best hits in his recent filmography.

Hollywood cinema of the highest level.