A Brighter Tomorrow

A Brighter Tomorrow (Il sol dell'avvenire) is a 2023 Italian-French comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Nanni Moretti.

The film was released in Italy on 20 April 2023. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened on 24 May 2023. It received seven nominations at the 69th David di Donatello awards.

Synopsis
Giovanni is a director, who dreams to make a film adaptation from John Cheever's "The Swimmer" with a soundtrack made of many Italian pop songs. He is married to Paola, who works with him as a producer. Together they have a daughter, who is a musician. While Giovanni is busy shooting a film about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Paola starts working on another film production. Giovanni is resentful of Paola's extra professional engagement, as he feels she should concentrate on his career alone. Tension culminates during a visit Giovanni pays to the set of the film Paola is working on, where he openly criticises the director, the plot and the final scene they are shooting. Exasperated with Giovanni's attitude, Paola leaves him the next day. When Giovanni's film encounters financial troubles, Paola comes to his rescue by bringing in a team of South Korean producers. The events prove to have a deep effect on Giovanni, who decides to change the ending of his film and give it a more positive message.

Production
Il sol dell'avvenire was co-written by Nanni Moretti with collaborators Francesca Marciano, Federica Pontremoli and Valia Santella. The film was co-produced by Moretti through Sacher Film and by Domenico Procacci through Fandango, with Rai Cinema and France's Le Pacte. It was produced in collaboration with France 3 Cinéma, with the participation of Canal+, Ciné+ and France Télévisions. Moretti called the film "complex and costly".

Filming began on 8 March 2022. Shooting took place at Cinecittà, as well as on the streets of Rome. In May 2022, scenes were shot on Rome's Via dei Fori Imperiali, with an elaborate procession featuring a band, extras, horses and elephants. Moretti's use of animals on set was criticized by animal rights groups, including Lega Anti Vivisezione (LAV). Filming wrapped on 21 June 2022.

Release
Il sol dell'avvenire was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened on 24 May 2023. The film was theatrically released in Italy by 01 Distribution on 20 April 2023, before its Cannes screening, which, although considered a rare privilege, is permitted by the festival's regulations. It was theatrically released in France by Le Pacte on 28 June 2023. It was also invited to the 27th Lima Film Festival in the Acclaimed section, where it was screened on 10 August 2023. It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'Icon' section and was screened on 5 October 2023.

International sales are handled by Kinology.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 52% based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Moretti's 8½, A Brighter Tomorrow vibrantly presents a myriad of rose-tinted ideas celebrating the love of cinema that dip too far into nostalgia and self-indulgence." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 8 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Reviewing the film following its Cannes premiere, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called it "bafflingly awful: muddled, mediocre and metatextual – a complete waste of time, at once strident and listless."