George Clooney tackles `original sin` of slavery and racism in dark comedy

VENICE (Reuters) – Breaking the brittle veneer of the picture-perfect suburbs of 1950s America, George Clooney&rsquo-s new satire tackles racial prejudice which the actor and director said on Saturday continues to erupt in today&rsquo-s angry society.

&ldquo-Suburbicon&rdquo-, starring Matt Damon and Julianne Moore, is set in a town of that name which is rudely awoken from the American dream by a series of surreal crimes and the residents&rsquo- furious reaction to a black family&rsquo-s arrival in the neighborhood.

&ldquo-This is a movie about our coming to terms with the idea that we have never addressed our issues with race fully,&rdquo- Clooney told a news conference after the premiere at the 74th annual Venice film festival.

&ldquo-We&rsquo-ve still got a lot of work to do, from our original sin of slavery and racism.&rdquo-

Damon said last month&rsquo-s violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia showed the issues addressed in the film &ldquo-have not and will not go away until there is an honest reckoning in our country&rdquo-.

Damon plays Gardner, a family man whose home life darkens as tensions rise in the community outside, while Moore plays both his wife and her twin sister.

Based on a script written by Joel and Ethan Coen in the 1980s, the film opens with a cheery prologue promoting the charms of Suburbicon, which include a church and a mall.

But the promise that it is a &ldquo-melting pot of diversity&rdquo- is quickly and categorically disproved, and a burgeoning friendship between a white boy and his black neighbor sparks violence.

Clooney, a festival stalwart who got married in a star-studded party in Venice in 2014 and has since made Italy his second home, said the film reflected deep anger in his home country, although he declared, &ldquo-this isn&rsquo-t a movie about (President) Donald Trump&rdquo-.

&ldquo-People are angry, a lot of us are angry, angry at ourselves, angry at the way that the country is going, angry at the way the world is going,&rdquo- he said.

Asked whether he would like to be the next U.S. President, Clooney joked, &ldquo-That sounds like fun!&rdquo- and Damon cut in: &ldquo-Can I just say I would like anybody to be the next President of the United States, right away please.&rdquo-

&ldquo-Suburbicon&rdquo- is Clooney&rsquo-s latest turn in the director&rsquo-s chair since 2014&rsquo-s &ldquo-The Monuments Men&rdquo-, but he is perhaps best known for his decades-long acting career.

He reminisced on Saturday about participating in Civil War re-enactments in his home state of Kentucky when he was growing up, when the meaning of the roles assigned had eluded him.

&ldquo-You got to pick if you wanted to be a union or a rebel soldier and I was like give me the rebel, I want to be the rebel. You didn&rsquo-t really understand the history of the Confederate flag … a flag that was designed to carry into battle … in favor of slavery.&rdquo-