Now halfway through the lineup, enthusiasm for the competition titles at the Venice Film Festival has only increased, with La Biennale all stars like Brady Corbet and Pedro Almodóvar earning what keeps being reported as record-breakingly long standing ovations.
To be fair, IndieWire was at both the premiere of “The Brutalist” the previous day, where there was even an exuberant round of applause during the intermission for the 215-minute film, and at the first public screening of “The Room Next Door,” where fans stood so long embracing the Spanish auteur’s English language feature debut that he stayed at the foot of the Sala Grande theater stairs to sign some autographs.
In terms of which film is most contention for the Golden Lion, “The Brutalist” likely still has the edge for how it aligns with the perceived criteria this year’s competition jury is bringing. Corbet’s film is more ambitious, but “The Room Next Door” still sees Almodóvar really stretch himself, putting him and the film in good standing for the Silver Lion and Grand Jury Prize, with maybe even Tilda Swinton being a contender for the Volpi Cup as well, if recency bias becomes a factor (and Lady Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux” failed to impress.)
While there were no other films that quite drowned out the noise of Almodóvar’s return to the Lido, Day 6 was a nice day to broaden one’s horizons with some of the premieres in the Orizzonti section of the festival, which prioritizes more independent work and/or films with young talent, similar to the Next section at Sundance.
First to screen was “Mistress Dispeller,” a feature length update of director Elizabeth Lo’s 2021 documentary short about a woman in China who helps counsel married couples dealing with infidelity. Though it is mostly in Mandarin, the film absolutely scratches an itch for anyone who can’t get enough of the Showtime docudrama “Couples Therapy.” Japanese director Neo Sora is also better known as a documentarian coming off of last year’s “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus,” but rather than capture history again, his new film “Happyend” attempts to predict the future. Set in a Tokyo not too far off from now, the film centers on a group of secondary school students living in fear of the big one, meaning an impending earthquake that would raze the city (all too familiar to California residents), and dealing with a high-tech, discriminatory surveillance system that may prevent them from graduating.
Elsewhere, another Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement was given, this time to director Peter Weir before a screening of his Oscar-winning film “Master and Commander.” With his “Dead Poets Society” star Ethan Hawke presenting the ferocious statue to the 80-year-old filmmaker. Hawke also gave a master class at the festival, prior to the ceremony, at a time that was still a bit too early for anyone who had attended the “Wolfs” premiere the previous day, which ended up keeping the audience in the Sala Grande theater past midnight.
To learn more about Sigourney Weaver receiving the other Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, the rapturous applause for Volpi Cup contenders Angelina Jolie and Adrien Brody, or first reactions to the latest films from Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, check out IndieWire’s daily Venice Film Festival highlights.
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