Venice Film Festival Update
 

Hi all, just a small update about Venice Film Festival. It ended yesterday. Ang Lee won again (he already did it in 2005 with Brokeback Mountain) with Lust, Caution. I haven't seen it but people I trust told me it's very good (and pretty hot too).

Cate Blanchett won a totally deserved award as best actress for I'm Not there, and the movie by Todd Haynes won also the Special Jury Prize tied with La graine et le mulet, a very nice French movie that talks about integration.

The big surprise was the award to Brad Pitt as best actor for The assassination of Jesse James, a prize that was booed by the journalists in the press room during the ceremony. Apparently the jurors (all directors) found his performance very powerful. I can't say anything about it because I didn't have the courage to see a 2 and a half hours movie with Brad Pitt in the leading role (too masochistic even for me... I mean, he's handsome but as an actor has still a long way to go).

Another very deserved award was the one to Nikita Mikhalkov for overall work. He presented 12, a fantastic remake set in Russia of Twelve angry men by Lumet. All the cast is simply magnificent, and Mikhalkov was able to talk of many topics at the same time (from war in Chechnya to Russian society).

Probably though my favourite movie at this festival was Redacted by Brian De Palma. It's an innovative, inspired, very tough, extremely dynamic film about the war in Iraq that can't leave anyone indifferent. He finally proved again that he's still one of the best living directors.

Some other great movies:
The Darjeeling Limited by Wes Anderson. It has one of the most incredible start for a movie I've ever seen, the acting is superb, and the script was absolutely brilliant, as any other aspect of the production. Every doubt I had about Wes Anderson's big talent totally disappeared with this film. I don't know if the movie in US will be distributed together with the short movie Hotel Chevalier, but In case it wasn't try to find it, is a beautiful prologue for the story.

La fille coupee en deux by Claude Chabrol: a new noir by one of the inventors of Nouvelle Vague, beautifully acted and directed.

Mad Detective by Johnnie To - An introspective thriller shot with a masterful touch by Johnnie To, who for the first time also created very powerful female characters.

Romy

Thanks Romy, I've been meaning to ask you if you had seen Darjeeling!
I'm really looking forward to it anyway, but I'm thrilled to hear good things about it. It's closing the London Film Festival so I'm hoping to see it then.

Please let me know what you'll think about the movie, I was really impressed by it. I even liked Owen Wilson (besides, questions about him weren't allowed during the press conference) , that never told me much as an actor before.

Romy

Sounds as if you had a good time at the film festival. I've started going to the Palm Springs film festival every year in the late winter, & I really enjoy it (although I missed it this year for health reasons). A few years ago, that's where I saw the extraordinary Hana to Arisu (Hana to Alice), director Shunji Iwai.

I always love going to Venice, even if I go for work and it's a tour de force it's like being in heaven for someone who loves cinema. I have never seen Hana to Arisu, I googled it and sounds interesting. Another great far eastern movie I saw there was this one, The most distant course by Lin Jing-jie

Romy