Venezia 73: Into the sunset on days 10 & 11

The 73rd Venice Film Festival wraps up tonight with a flourish. Everyone is second-guessing what might walk off with the awards. The collateral juries (including mine) announced their winners last night, followed by several parties. But I still made it to this morning's press screening of The Magnificent Seven, which easily kept me awake (that's Vincent D'Onofrio, Martin Sensmeier, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ethan Hawke, Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Byung-hun Lee, above). Here are the last few films I've seen, plus my best of the fest...

The Magnificent Seven
dir Antoine Fuqua;  with Denzel Washington,  Chris Pratt 16/US ***
With broad strokes, Antoine Fuqua's remake of the 1960 classic (itself a remake of Kurosawa's 1954 masterpiece Seven Samurai) is big, loud and entertaining enough to hold the interest amid a sea of Wild West cliches. The characters and morality couldn't be any more simplistic, but the actors inves witty energy that helps make up for the predictable plot and glorified bloodshed. In other words, it's utterly unnecessary, but some audiences love this kind of macho fluff.

Boys in the Trees

dir-scr Nicholas Verso; with Toby Wallace, Gulliver McGrath 16/Aus ***.

Dark and intense in both its honesty and its mythical sensibility, this film explores the idea that man is a social animal that sometimes turns on its own. Writer-director Nicholas Verso creates an astonishingly evocative horror movie that gets deeply personal as it grapples with this and other themes. It may feel somewhat gimmicky, but it's also haunting and important.

Never Ever [À Jamais]

dir Benoit Jacquot; with Mathieu Amalric, Julia Roy 16/Fr ***
Based on the Don DeLillo novel The Body Artist, this French drama has a horror-mystery sensibility that's genuinely freaky. Playing with themes of artistic invention, mental instability and loneliness, it's a haunting story of one young woman sliding beyond the realm of reason. So it's a bit frustrating that the plot feels oddly thin, making its points early on and then going in circles before reaching the striking finale.

My best films of the festival...

1. Jackie (Pablo Larrain)
2. La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
3. The Woman Who Left (Lav Diaz)
4. Arrival (Denis Villeneuve)
5. The Young Pope (Paolo Sorrentino)
6. Heartstone (Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson)
7. Prevenge (Alice Lowe)
8. Frantz (Francois Ozon)
9. Hacksaw Ridge (Mel Gibson)
10. Heal the Living (Katell Quillevere)

Update: The festival's main competition awards were handed out tonight:

• Golden Lion: The Woman Who Left
• Grand Jury Prize: Nocturnal Animals
• Actress: Emma Stone - La La Land
• Actor: Oscar Martínez - The Distinguished Citizen
• Director: Andrei Konchalovsky - Paradise
• Screenplay: Noah Oppenheim - Jackie
• 
Mastroianni Award: Paula Beer · Frantz
• Special Jury Prize: The Bad Batch

I'm sticking around in Venice for a couple of days to visit the city - I'd never been here before this trip, so there's a lot to explore! Then it's back to London, and my usual work deadlines, on Monday.

Venezia 73: Far from home on day 9

The 73rd Venice Film Festival is entering its final days, so talk is turning to who will scoop up the awards? Will it be an old favourite filmmaker or a rising star? Will a known name like Timothy Spall or Natalie Portman take an acting prize over someone unknown and devastating? Everyone has an opinion. And the first flurry of jury prizes will be handed out tonight, while the rest come tomorrow. Here's what I've seen in the last day or two (that's Charo Santos above)...

The Woman Who Left [Ang Babaeng Humayo]
dir-scr Lav Diaz; with Charo Santos, John Lloyd Cruz 16/Ph ****.
At nearly four hours long, you'd think this Filipino epic would try the patience. But you'd be wrong. This is a riveting odyssey that tells a straightforward story of revenge and redemption with strong echoes of life anywhere on earth. It may feel a bit like binge-watching an entire miniseries, but Lav Diaz's filmmaking is worth experiencing on a big screen, as he shoots in a style that's deceptively rough and old-fashioned, but is packed with skill, wit and some big surprises.

Planetarium
dir Rebecca Zlotowski; with Natalie Portman, Lily-Rose Depp 16/Fr **
A baffling story set just before WWII broke out, this lavishly produced film looks great, and has a lovely central performance by Natalie Portman. Alas, the plot simply never comes into focus, veering all over the place, complicated by flashbacks, framing scenes, dreams and visions, plus a film-within-a-film motif. but none of this resolves itself into anything terribly coherent.

On the Milky Road
dir-scr Emir Kusturica; with Monica Bellucci, Emir Kusturica 16/Ser ***
Veteran Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica is back with another lively, cacophonous romp through his nation's history, this time centring on the 1990s war. The film's first half is a joyous depiction of the experiences of a rather wacky group of characters, including several animals. Then the film takes a hard swerve into violence and fantasy that may gel for Serbian viewers, but leaves everyone else in the dark.

These Days [Questi giorni]
dir Giuseppe Piccioni; with Maria Roveran, Marta Gastini 16/It **
It's not easy to work out what this Italian comedy-drama is all about. It's a road movie that neglects to show us the journey, following a group of lively characters who never do or say anything amusing. Romances are thin and unfocussed, and the plot itself is only a hint. There are some intriguing ideas swirling around, but over two long hours filmmaker Giuseppe Piccioni never quite finds anything to make the movie either meaningful or entertaining.

Only a few films to go now, including Denzel Washington in The Magnificent Seven, Mathieu Amalric in Never Ever and the Aussie drama Boys in the Trees.

Venezia 73: Holding it together on day 8

We're in the final stretch now, and the lack of sleep, long distances of walking, contrasts between hot sunshine and chilly air conditioning are all taking their toll. But the parties are starting up. Our jury decides on its winner today (still two more films to see), and the weekend will see a range of celebrations. Then next week it's back to work as usual. Anyway, here's what I saw on Tuesday (that's Natalie Portman, above, in my best of the fest so far)...

Jackie
dir Pablo Larrain; with Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard 16/US *****
Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain takes a clear-eyed approach to this fictionalised account of the days following JFK's assassination. Anchored by a pungent performance by Natalie Portman, the film digs deep into the complexities of grief, with glancing blows to celebrity culture and political expediency. Never slick or sentimental, its layers of resonance are hard to shake.

The Journey
dir Nick Hamm; with Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney 16/UK ***
Anchored by tremendous performances by Timothy Spall and Colm Meaney, this British drama imagines a real-life political conversation in the style of The Queen or Frost/Nixon. Even though it's simplistic and contrived, Colin Bateman's script is snaky and often very funny as it traps mortal enemies Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness in a car for an hour or so. The resuly is entertaining, although it could have had a lot more bite.

Voyage of Time
dir-scr Terrence Malick; narr Cate Blanchett 16/US ***
Call this the logical next stage in the evolution of Terrence Malick: his swirling approach to natural history has eschewed even a hint of a plot to instead trace time from drifting bits of matter to, well, drifting bits of matter. With all of Earth's existence in between. It's often breathtakingly gorgeous, and there are some very clever touches. But it's also rather corny, and a bit obvious.

Paradise
dir Andrey Konchalovsky; with Yuliya Vysotskaya, hristian Clauss  16/Russia ***.
With a bold visual and structural style, Andrey Konchalovsky gives the Nazi deathcamp movie an eternal twist, exploring the actions and motivations of three distinct people in the face of unspeakable horror. It's a difficult film, somewhat simplistic in its morality and pushy in its themes. But it has a visceral power that can't help but strike a chord.

Venezia 73: It's a battle on days 6 & 7

Working at a film festival can be exhausting. Not only do you see three or four films every day, but you need to find time to write about them all as well. And also perhaps meet your normal work deadlines at the same time. Plus, you're in a strange city, searching for food! And also since it's a new place you want to take some time off and explore. Well, here at the 73rd Venice Film Festival, on Tuesday I finally had a chance to take the water bus over to the city's famous main islands - my first visit ever. I've travelled all over the world, but nothing prepared me for the thrill of Venice! After a three-hour walk in a rather enormous, convoluted circle, I'm in love with this city (and happy that it's only a cheap flight rom where I live). Then I was back on the boat across the lagoon to see more movies on the Lido. Here's what I saw yesterday and this morning (that's Andrew Garfield, above)...

Hacksaw Ridge
dir Mel Gibson; with Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington 16/Aus ****
With this big-hearted war epic, Mel Gibson uses warm, glowing drama and smiley corniness to distract from the harrowingly gruesome battle sequences. This means that most scenes are hard to watch for a variety of different reasons. But at the centre, this is a genuinely rousing story of real-life courage. And the war scenes are unusually riveting.

The Bad Batch
dir-scr Ana Lily Amirpour; with Suki Waterhouse , Jason Momoa 16/US **
For her second feature, Ana Lily Amirpour has a big, bold idea that's like Mad Max descending on Burning Man. But it isn't post-apocalyptic: it's a reflection of right-wing attitudes that are sweeping the globe, marginalising anyone who doesn't fit the status quo. So it's frustrating that the film is so difficult to engage with. Characters are cool and dispassionate, dialog is stiff and the pacing is uneven.

Tommaso
dir-scr Kim Rossi Stuart; with Kim Rossi Stuart, Camilla Diana 16/It **.
Like a cinematic mid-life crisis, this is an almost overpoweringly self-indulgent comedy-drama from Italian filmmaker Kim Rossi Stuart.  Not only is his central character an annoying, infantile jerk, but the film itself is simplistic in its themes and obvious in its metaphors. It's breezy enough to be watchable, but only just.

Heal the Living [Réparer les Vivants]
dir Katell Quillevere; with Tahar Rahim, Anne Dorval 16/Fr ****
Openly emotive and darkly resonant, this French drama quite literally centres on matters of the heart. It's beautifully assembled and acted on various fronts. And even if filmmaker Katell Quillevere  sometimes drifts closely toward sentimentality, the movie remains a clear-eyed portrait of a group of people facing various sides of a life or death battle.

A Woman's Life [Une Vie]
dir Stephane Brize; with Judith Chemla, Jean-Pierre Darroussin 16/Fr ***.
An intriguingly deconstructed life story, this 19th century adaptation of the Guy de Maupassant novel plays out over some 25 years pivoting on emotions rather than plot. This makes it intriguingly compelling, even if the loose filmmaking, cool performances and impressionistic editing keep everything somewhat aloof. But it has powerful things to say about human nature, especially how we as individuals perceive the world around us.

Upcoming films include Pablo Larrain's Jackie, Terrence Malick's Voyage of Time: Life's Journey, Andrei Konchalovsky's Paradise and Nick Hamm's The Journey.

Venezia 73: Staring out at day 3

Frankly, it isn't easy to spend all day in a cinema when the weather is this spectacular - and when you can see the beach from the press workroom. But this is life at the 73rd Venice Film Festival: watch movies and write about them, and if time allows gawk at the stars in press conferences or on the red carpet. Here on the Lido there are two other urgent requirements: finding food and wifi, neither of which is remotely easy. Here are more recent films (and that's Amy Adams again, above) ...

Nocturnal Animals
dir-scr Tom Ford; with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal 16/US ***.
For his second film as writer-director, Tom Ford takes on an ambitious, three-sided story that's a romantic drama, violent thriller and darkly internal odyssey. Of course it all looks gorgeous, designed and edited to perfection. And it's packed with terrific moments that hit us right between the eyes with intensity and emotion. But some elements outshine the others, which throws things somewhat off the balance.

Frantz
dir Francois Ozon; with Pierre Niney, Paula Beer 16/Fr ****.
French filmmaker Francois Ozon tackles another genre with this historical drama, which has shades of Haneke in its multi-layered story of forgiveness and redemption. Shot in black and white with moments of blossoming colour, the film harks back to period war dramas due to the visual style and the way the story evolves. But of course, Ozon puts his own subtle spin on everything. And the result is darkly moving.

Summertime [L'Estate Addosso]
dir Gabriele Muccino; with Brando Pacitto, Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz 16/It ***
Bright and energetic, this Italian-American drama is packed with likeable characters and perceptive observations. But it's somewhat cursory in the way it approaches both the characters and story, full of picturesque montages with beautiful people in gorgeous locations. And while the core message is strong, the plotting feels rather random.

The Last Things [Le Ultime Cose]
dir-scr Irene Dionisio; with Fabrizio Falco, Roberto De Francesco 16/It ***
While this gentle Italian drama taps nicely into the zeitgeist, it seems to focus more on situation than the people who are caught up in it. The characters each have a journey to follow, and writer-director Irene Dionisio observes them without ever quite getting under their skin. Still, there are some strong moral dilemmas that pull the audience in. And the way it highlights a culture of desperation is haunting.

Coming up: Jude Law in The Young Pope, Dakota Fanning in Brimstone, James Franco's In Dubious Battle...

Venezia 73: First contact on day 2

The press room was buzzing after this morning's screening of Denis Villeneuve's brainy new sci-fi thriller Arrival (that's Amy Adams above), which was also the starry red carpet tonight, along with Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, of course. Here's what I saw today...

Arrival
dir Denis Villeneuve; with Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner 16/Can ****.
With an enormous suggestion about the potential of humanity, this darkly emotive science-fiction thriller grabs the audience by the brain and never lets go. So while the film feels somewhat overserious and densely packed, director Denis Villeneuve also offers huge rewards to viewers who pay close attention. And his actors deliver performances that burst with both intelligence and emotion.


Prevenge
dir-scr Alice Lowe; with Alice Lowe, Jo Hartley 16/UK ****
Call this a serial killer movie from the heart. With her debut feature as director, Alice Lowe creates a rare black comedy that makes the audience complicit with murder. But even more than a riotous rampage of grisliness, this is an emotionally resonant exploration of the innate craziness of pregnancy, vividly capturing that feeling that an alien creature is living inside, taking over your life.

Pamilya Ordinaryo
dir-scr Eduardo W Roy Jr; with Ronwaldo Martin, Hasmine Kilip 16/Ph ***.
Relentlessly grim in its realism, this is a drama of desperation from the streets of Manila. It explores an underclass of people living rough with no hope of getting a fair shake. Even though the central story is hugely compelling, justice is elusive here. This is bracingly honest filmmaking that finds glimmers of humanity at every turn, even as hope seems to disappear.

Films on the slate for tomorrow are Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals, Francois Ozon's Frantz and the Italian drama Le Ultime Cose.

Venezia 73: Swept away on day 1

Greetings from the end of Day 1 at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. This is my first time at this festival - and my first visit in Venice itself (although I was born in Venice, California, if that counts for anything). I'm staying here on the Lido, not far from the Palazzo, Casino and other rather fabulous venues, but my life consists of attending unglamorous press screenings and scrabbling around for food (there are no cafes nearby) and wifi (which seems like a luxury). Today's films included the festival opener, and I spotted Emma Stone on the red carpet...

La La Land
dir-scr Damien Chazelle; with Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone 16/US ****.
This colourful musical about Los Angeles is both a celebration and a cautionary tale about the city of dreams. Its buoyant tone and fizzy performances make it a joy from start to finish, even when things turn rather dark along the way. Writer-director Damien Chazelle proves that Whiplash was no fluke: this is a bravura display of pure cinematic joy.

The Light Between Oceans
dir-scr Derek Cianfrance; with Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander 16/NZ ***
Fans of sweeping romantic epics will enjoy this florid love story, its emotive performances and picturesque scenery. Those who find tortured melodrama just a touch exhausting will find it a bit of a chore to sit through. But it’s beautifully made and well-acted by a fine cast. An even if it doesn’t have much to say thematically, there’s at least some intriguing moral twistiness. (That's Vikander and Fassbender, above.)

Heartstone [Hjartasteinn]
dir-scr Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson; with Baldur Einarsson Blaer Hinriksson 16/Ice ***., 
Dark and sometimes very grim, this Icelandic teen drama tackles a serious topic in an intensely personal way. Set in a rural area, the small community ramps up the emotions to the breaking point, pulling the audience into the story with serious force.

I'll add to this blog as I get the chance, and upload reviews to the site when possible. Tomorrow's films are Denis Villeneuve's Arrival, Alice Lowe's Prevenge, Gabriele Muccino's L'Estate Addosso and the Filipino drama Pamilya Ordinaryo.