The largest casino in Europe but is it just a big mess? Daniel Hoesl presents Un gran casino as an angry musing on a building, an Italian village and all that is done in the name of the unfettered creation of wealth.
How does one spell this title correctly – with or without a gravis on the last letter? In the opening credits, the gravis is present but in a different colour, suggesting that one should understand the title as ‘A Big Casino’ (casinò) that is ‘A Big Mess’ (casino).
The gambling house in question is Casinò di Campione, an architectural abomination dominating the Italian exclave of Campione d’Italia. From Lake Lugano, one sees a gaudy postmodernist monstrosity that turns the surrounding village into a folkloristic theme park. For filmmaker Daniel Hoesl, the casino, which opened in 2007, closed in 2018, reopened in 2022 and all the time profiting from Campione d’Italia’s curious fiscal situation, became a master image of global capitalism.
In contrast to Hoesl’s earlier films, Un gran casino is an exercise in minimalism: black and white; a poetic yet economically and sociologically loaded voice-over; long, mainly observational takes with the occasional acted scene for narrative density, with some occasional punkish musical interludes. More than a story, it’s a cinematic maelstrom, a vortex of doom-dense wisdom. One exits Un gran casino with more knowledge, fewer illusions about the state of the world and hopefully a will for change.
– Olaf Möller
Trailer
This content is available after accepting the marketing cookies.
Film details
- Country of production
- Austria
- Year
- 2025
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2025
- Length
- 77'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
