Louis Garrel is back in Venice with a major Italian filmmaker’s latest work, as Nanni Moretti’s romantic drama “It Will Happen Tonight” enters the Golden Lion race at the Venice Film Festival.
The French actor and director stars in the film as Matteo, the male lead, placing him at the center of Moretti’s competition title. Garrel, who gained international attention for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers,” is now appearing in a film from another Italian auteur, with “It Will Happen Tonight” marking his collaboration with Moretti.
In discussing the project, Garrel addressed the idea of serving as Moretti’s alter ego on screen, a dynamic that adds another layer to his performance as Matteo. The role also required intimate scenes with Jasmine Trinca, and Garrel emphasized that those moments depend on trust and emotional rapport between actors.
“You have to feel a real connection,” Garrel said, speaking about filming sex scenes with Trinca in the romantic drama.
That comment points to the kind of performance challenge often faced in relationship-driven cinema: creating a sense of believable intimacy while working within the demands of a director’s vision. In “It Will Happen Tonight,” Garrel’s Matteo is not merely the male lead of a Venice competition entry; he is also positioned within a film being discussed in relation to Moretti’s own artistic identity.
The Venice berth gives the project a high-profile platform, with the Golden Lion competition placing “It Will Happen Tonight” among the festival’s top contenders. For Garrel, the appearance also connects two significant threads in his screen career as presented here: his international breakthrough in Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers” and his latest work under Moretti’s direction.
With “It Will Happen Tonight” competing for Venice’s top prize, attention now turns to how festival audiences and jurors respond to Moretti’s romantic drama and Garrel’s performance as Matteo.