Venezia74: Celebrations on Day 11

The 74th Venice Film Festival came to a close tonight with a starry awards ceremony at which Guillermo del Toro unsurprisingly took the top prize for his superb The Shape of Water. Earlier in the day I spent a couple of hours out in the sunshine and then caught my final film of the festival (see below). Here the winners in the bigger categories and sections, as well as my 10 favourite films of the festival...

Golden Lion: THE SHAPE OF WATER
Grand Jury Prize: FOXTROT
Director: Xavier Legrand (CUSTODY)
Actress: Charlotte Rampling (HANNAH)
Actor: Kamel El Basha (THE INSULT)    
Screenplay: Martin McDonagh (THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI)
Special Jury Prize: SWEET COUNTRY
Mastroianni Award: Charlie Plummer (LEAN ON PETE)
Lion of the Future: Xavier Legrand (CUSTODY)
Glory to the Filmmaker: Stephen Frears
Lifetime Achievement: Jane Fonda and Robert Redford

Horizons
Film: NICO, 1988
Director: Vahid Jalilvand (NO DATE, NO SIGNATURE)
Jury Prize: CANIBA
Actress: Lyna Khoudri (LES BIENHEUREUX)
Actor: Navid Mohammadzadeh (NO DATE, NO SIGNATURE)
Scr: Dominique Welinski and Rene Ballesteros (LOS VERSOS DEL OLVIDO)

Venice Days
People's Choice: LONGING
Director: Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza (CANDELARIA)

Critics' Week
Film: TEAM HURRICANE
Audience Award: TEMPORADA DE CAZA

Queer Lion: MARVIN
Fipresci: EX LIBRIS: THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Fipresci - Debut Film: Kim Nguyen (LOS VERSOS DEL OLVIDO)
Fedeora - Film: EYE ON JULIET
Fedeora - Debut Dir: Sara Forestier (M)
Fedeora - Actor: Redouanne Harjane (M)
Doc on Cinema: THE PRINCE AND THE DYBBUK
Mouse d’Oro: MEKTOUB, MY LOVE: CANTO UNO
Leoncino d’Oro: THE LEISURE SEEKER

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RICH'S 10 BEST OF THE FEST

1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Lean on Pete
3. M
4. Custody
5. The Third Murder
6. Suburbicon
7. The Shape of Water
8. Love and Bullets
9. Nico, 1988
10. Brawl in Cell Block 99

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M
dir-scr Sara Forestier; with Sara Forestier, Redouanne Harjane 17/Fr ****.
An unusually involving and offbeat romance, this is a remarkably assured writing-directing debut for actress Sara Forestier. With a clever premise, the film brings two marginalised people together, forcing them to address personal issues they would rather hide from the world. Forestier packs the film with little unexpected details about these characters, both of whom are so beautifully played that we can't help but root for them as we vividly identify with their longing and frustration as well as their joy.

I'll be straight back into screenings in London starting on Monday, and this coming week includes Borg vs McEnroe, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, The Glass Castle and Brakes.

Venezia74: Be a team player on Day 10

The sun was out again today at the Venice Film Festival, a relief after the deluge and ongoing wash-out last night on the Lido. There's definitely a sense that things are winding down here. Most journalists are gone, the films seem oddly less glamour-intensive and those of us still hanging in there are looking a bit like the walking undead. The collateral sections gave out their prizes this evening at the Venice Days villa on the beach, so we were very glad the weather held for us today. Here are the three films I watched...

Man Hunt
dir John Woo; with Zhang Hanyu, Masaharu Fukuyama 17/Jpn ***.
John Woo returns to his roots with this rampaging action movie, which also pays homage to the history of Japanese cinema as an innocent man tries to clear his name. Set in the present, but shot in cheesy 1970s style, the film is a lot of fun with its convoluted plot and breathtakingly choreographed action scenes. It also features all the Woo trademarks, from shattered glass to fluttering doves. And bullets, lots of bullets.

Hannah
dir Andrea Pallaoro; with Charlotte Rampling, Andre Wilms 17/Bel ***
With barely any plot development or dialog, this film is essentially a cold exercise in watching a person deal with the collapse of her family. Fortunately, she's played by Charlotte Rampling, an actress who rivets the audience even when she's just watching something happen off-screen. Which she does a lot in this movie. But in her eyes, the emotions of the situation are very real, even if we never quite understand why.

Custody [Jusqu'à la Garde]
dir-scr Xavier Legrand; with Denis Menochet, Lea Drucker 17/Fr ****
A punchy drama that grips the audience with a complex situation and shifting characters, this French film only gradually reveals the truth about the dissolution of a marriage. Writer-director Xavier Legrand and his skilled cast take a bold and intense approach to a story that unfolds through a series of perspective-shifting encounters. It's often painful to watch, building to a confrontation that leaves us deeply shaken.

Tomorrow is the last day of the festival, so I'll try to catch up with a couple of things I missed. And then the big awards presentation is in the evening, so I'm looking forward to some upset decisions from Annette Bening and her jury.

Venezia74: Have a holiday on Day 9

I only saw two films today at the Venice Film Festival, a welcome relief after seeing four most days over the past week. In between, I crossed over from Lido to Venice once again for a day of sightseeing, museums and food. Then back to Lido for our jury deliberations in a deluge of rain. Here are today's films...

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno
dir Abdellatif Kechiche; with Shain Boumedine, Salim Kechiouche 17/Fr ***.
Another very long, strikingly naturalistic film by Abdellatif Kechiche, this loosely plotted drama is packed with beautiful young people who spend the summer either on the beach or at the disco. The Arabic word "Mektoub" roughly translates as "it is destiny", so clearly the filmmaker has bigger things on his mind. But the remarkably engaging scenes are weakened by camerawork that echoes the most misogynist characters, relentlessly gazing on women's bodies.

Racer and the Jailbird [Le Fidèle]
dir Michael R Roskam; with Matthias Schoenaerts, Adele Exarchopoulos 17/Bel ***.
Filmmaker Michael Roskam reteams once again with Matthias Schoenaerts for this personal drama set against the criminal scene in Belgium. More of an epic romance than a thriller, the film has plenty of emotional moments that draw the audience into the central romance. Although it's all perhaps a bit too dark for its own good, as the film runs out of hope before we're ready to give up on these people.

Tomorrow: Charlotte Rampling in Hannah, John Woo's Manhunt and the French drama Custody. There;'s also the awards presention for the parallel section prizes.

Venezia74: Taking aim on Day 8

Italian films are notoriously hit and miss here at the Venice Film Festival, perhaps because so many filmmakers are friends with programmers. So it was great to see one that was so hugely enjoyable this morning, and met with a big roar of approval from the crowd at the screening. I have now seen all of the films in contention for this year's Queer Lion prize, and our jury will meet tomorrow to hash out who our winner will be. Here's what I saw today - I skipped a fourth film tonight, just for my own personal sanity...

Love and Bullets [Ammore e Malavita]
dir Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti; with Giampaolo Morelli, Raiz 17/It ****
The Manetti brothers find a fresh angle on the usual Naples crime thriller. The plot may be fairly typical, but it unfolds as a musical comedy with terrific songs and a continual stream of hilarious gags. While many jokes may be limited to Italian viewers, the approach is so witty that it crosses over to wider audiences, with a gleefully entertaining mix of dark drama, broad slapstick, some wonderfully elaborate musical numbers and quite a bit of surprisingly resonant emotion.

Sweet Country
dir Warwick Thornton; with Sam Neill, Hamilton Morris 17/Aus ***.
With a gentle pace that echoes the rhythms of life in turn-of-the-century rural Australia, this slow-burning dramatic Western quietly creeps up on the audience. It offers deep themes and detailed character, plus a vivid depiction of the clash between the Aboriginals and the European interlopers. The film's setting may echo other movies, but the tone is distinctly more internalised, exploring the true nature of justice in a seriously unjust place.

The Prince and the Dybbuk
dir-scr Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski; with Rosemary Mankiewicz, Angelo Manzini 17/Pol ***
This experimental documentary explores notorious Polish filmmaker Michal Waszynski. And its rather slippery since its subject continually reinvented himself, erasing his past to forge ever more glamorous futures as a prince in exile. Clearly he was haunted by something from his past, as evidenced in his iconic 1937 film The Dybbuk, about a close friendship between two Yiddish boys. The film's loose structure is frustrating for audiences who would like to know the full story, but the film has hypnotic charm.

Tomorrow is a quieter day: Matthias Schoenaerts in Le Fidele and Abdellatif Kechiche's three-hour opus Mektoub, My Love.

Venezia74: Stand by your man on Day 7

It was a double dose of Javier Bardem today at the 74th Venice Film Festival. I spotted him out on the red carpet this evening with Jennifer Lawrence for Mother!, and he is also in town with his wife and fellow Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz for their Escobar biopic Loving Pablo. It was another sunny, warm day on the Lido, and journalists are starting to look downright bleary after spending so much time in the cinemas. But there are only four days to go. Here's what I watched today...

Loving Pablo
dir-scr Fernando Leon de Aranoa; with Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz 17/Sp ***
This film is based on the memoir by Virginia Vallejo, and if it had stuck to her perspective it might have been a striking new approach to the well-worn story of Medellin drug lord Pablo Escobar. But Spanish filmmaker Fernando Leon de Aranoa tries to include extensive detail about the rise and fall of Escobar's empire, which leaves Vallejo as a side character. It also fails to make the most of either Javier Bardem or Penelope Cruz, even though both are on fire.

Mother!
dir-scr Darren Aronofsky; with Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem 17/US ***.
Darren Aronofsky uses the tropes of a haunted house thriller to explore the act of creation, both artistically and domestically. Yes, this is a freak-out parable about both directing a movie and establishing a family. since everything is so overpoweringly symbolic, the story and characters get somewhat lost in the chaos. It's bold and unsettling, but never remotely resonant. And it leaves us wondering why we so willingly put ourselves through this kind of agony.

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
dir Chris Smith; with Jim Carrey, Andy Kaufman 17/US ***.
While shooting Milos Forman's 1999 film Man on the Moon, Jim Carrey commissioned a backstage documentary, but the footage was never shown. Using a rather twinkly present-day interview, Carrey presents it now, revealing how he felt inhabited by Andy Kaufman both on and off set while the biopic was being shot. It's an entertaining look at a collision of offbeat comedy talents, exploring both actors' backgrounds and working styles in a way that's eye-opening and perhaps disturbing.

The Wild Boys [Les Garçons Sauvages]
dir-scr Bertrand Mandico; with Anael Snoek, Vimala Pons 17/Fr ***.
Heavily stylised on a low budget, this offbeat French adventure sends a group of five rebellious teen boys into a messy confrontation with gender identity. It's energetic and very witty, but far too pretentious to register very deeply with audiences. Still, strong performances emerge though the gimmicky, Guy Maddin-style visual approach, and the central idea is amusingly pointed: that a world of only women would probably be a more peaceful place to live.

Tomorrow looks extremely eclectic: the Aussie thriller Sweet Country with Sam Neill and Bryan Brown, the Italian musical-comedy Ammore e Malavita, Vivian Qu's dark Chinese drama Angels Wear White, and the Polish documentary The Prince and the Dybbuk about chameleon-like filmmaker Michal Waszynski.

Venezia74: Hit the road on Day 5

The weather returned to sunshine today, so I took a break in the middle of the day and went for a long walk on the beach. I have another gap tomorrow, and hope to cross the lagoon to Venice for some museum visiting. In the meantime I had three films today. Well, I was supposed to have four, but I did something I never do: I walked out of the French documentary Caniba. After 40 minutes, it was still insufferably pretentious and incoherent, and I remembered that I didn't need to review it anywhere, so I followed the steady flow of walk-outs and had some ice cream instead. These are the ones I watched all the way through...

The Leisure Seeker
dir Paolo Virzi; with Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland 17/US ***.
There's an askance loopiness about this film that blurs the lines between a lively road comedy and a darker exploration of mortality. It helps that it stars the effortlessly offbeat Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland, who add layers of edgy subtext to their broad characters and on-the-nose dialog. As it travels down America's East Coast, the film tries to pack in a lot of nostalgia and a whiff of politics, but it's the more internalised moments that are most effective.

Victoria & Abdul
dir Stephen Frears; with Judi Dench, Ali Fazal 17/UK ***
This may be a crowd-pleasing film, but it never seems like director Stephen Frears can make up his mind whether he's making a frightfully British comedy or a historical drama about the final 15 years of Queen Victoria's reign. So it ends up as an awkward mix of the two that feels neither funny nor historical. Thankfully it's anchored by another hugely engaging performance by Judi Dench, who keeps the audience smiling even when the plausibility wobbles.

Team Hurricane
dir-scr Annika Berg; with Zara Munch Bjarnum, Ida Glitre 17/Den ***.
A group of eight 15-year-old girls bare their souls in this colourful Danish documentary, which feels like they made it as a school project. Or perhaps it's a public service programme made to feel down with the kids. It's busy and bursting with lively touches for a generation that thinks anything that isn't "Insta-worthy" is useless. But they also discuss on serious issues like depression, sexuality, body image and eating disorder, all from the vibrant perspective of a teen girl.

Tomorrow: Francis McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Koreeda's The Third Murder and the Hollywood doc My Generation...

Venezia74: Red carpet time on Day 1

The 74th Venice film festival kicked off today on the Lido with the world premiere of Alexander Payne's new comedy drama Downsizing (see below), and Payne was on the above red carpet along with stars Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. Damon is still be around on Saturday for the world premiere of Suburbicon. It was a warm, summery day here today, and I spent most of it in cinemas, seeing four films....

Downsizing
dir Alexander Payne; with Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig 17/US ***
Alexander Payne eschews his usual organic style of storytelling for something more pointed and constructed. The premise is ingeniously conceived and thought out down to the (ahem!) smallest details, and as the plot develops a variety of big issues make themselves known. This may provide a connection to present-day issues, but it makes the film begin to feel rather pushy. And the ideas themselves become stronger than the narrative... FULL REVIEW >

First Reformed
dir-scr Paul Schrader; with Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried 17/US ***
Paul Schrader once again takes a provocative look at religion in America in this dark and twisty drama that has all kinds of repercussions from today's headlines, from climate change to extremism. Anchored by very strong performances, the film gets increasingly intense as it continues, implying in unmistakable ways that it's headed for something awful. Although Schrader himself seems unsure about where he wanted it to go.

Nico, 1988
dir-scr Susanna Nicchiarelli; with Trine Dyrholm, John Gordon Sinclair 17/Italy ****
This biopic about the final years of the iconic German-born musician-actress strikes an intriguing tone from the start, diving into the firsthand accounts of people who travelled with her around Europe. It feels remarkably personal, with a bold, gritty edge that echoes the intensity of both Nico's singing and Trine Dyrholm's thunderous performance. Some elements of the film feel a little undercooked, leaving the audience perhaps misled about the details. But it's an involving film packed with rivulets of emotion that pull the audience in.

The Devil and Father Amorth
dir William Friedkin; with William Friedkin, Gabriele Amorth 17/US ***.
Whether this is a documentary or a witty found-footage style thriller, it's a lot of fun. William Friedkin picks up on themes from his 1971 classic The Exorcist as he heads off to Rome to witness his first exorcism firsthand. What happens is freaky, but it's so hyped up by the tabloid-TV presentation and a gonzo horror score that it's impossible to take seriously. Still, it's fast-paced and gripping. You won't be able to look away, even thought you'll want to.

I'll be attempting to do this kind of post each day here - as my schedule allows. Meanwhile, I'm tweeting instant mini-reviews and instagramming photos. I'll also try to get the odd full review up on the site when I get a chance. But with four films per day, it may be tricky.

Everything here is a world premiere, by the way! Tomorrow: The Insult and Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water...


xx

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