It has been described as a festival for those who make, distribute or simply love films. Martina Portelli finds the Venice Film Festival grand and riveting.
For many, summer in Venice is synonymous with an influx of tourists, humid weather and occasionally, a rather dubious smell emanating from the canals.
Screenings were marked by a number of walkouts as well as hearty applause- Martina Portelli
But for 10 days between August and September the pattern breaks and La Serenissima’s Lido, a short vaporetto trip from the mainland, transforms from a quiet, residential island into a remarkably condensed film village shrouded in the typical Mostra red – the home of the ‘Old Lady’ of the festival circuit – the Venice Film Festival.
From the offset, the 68th edition of the festival was poised to be grand, with all 66 feature films in the official selections being world premieres – a feat which had not taken place since the pre-war years of the festival.
The showcase was filled to the brim with the likes of George Clooney, David Cronenberg, Roman Polanski and Al Pacino, but for me, the festival began with Fredrick Wiseman’s new documentary Crazy Horse, which takes a backstage peak at the famed Parisian burlesque club bearing the same name.
Despite the fact that it runs slightly long at 134 minutes, Wiseman succeeds in providing a quasi-anthropological view of the inner workings of the Parisian cabaret, revealing that a whole lot of hard work goes in making Crazy Horse reputedly home of “the best chic nude show in the world”.
Via another documentary, the Orizzonti section of the festival took me far from the bright lights of Paris and all the way to Bangkok, Bangladesh and Mexico City.
In Whore’s Glory, Austrian director Michael Glawogger takes the topic of prostitution and presents it as a triptych, contrasting the sale of love in three different cultures, religions and economies against the backdrop of a well chosen soundtrack, which includes the likes of PJ Harvey and Coco Rosie.
The documentary, which won the Special Jury Prize, unfolds through candid interviews and sharp shots as an almost sanitised view of the industry. Nonetheless, it is through these interviews that Glawogger’s documentary comes off as a surprisingly moving portrait. “Men don’t realise how we sacrifice our sense of shame for money,” says one working girl.
My first taste of the films in the race for the Golden Lion came thanks to a double screening which coupled David Cronenberg’s highly anticipated A Dangerous Method and Venice veteran Philippe Garrel’s Un Été Brûlant (That Summer).
There is no denying that Garrel is unique in his ability to capture delicate moments and emotions through his filmmaking, but next to previous films like Les Amants Reguliers, Un Été Brûlant was a bit of a letdown that not even such enigmatic leads as Monica Bellucci and Louis Garrel could save.
A Dangerous Method details the complicated relationship between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his patient (and mistress) Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), and Jung’s mentor, and eventual adversary, Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Tackling the theme of sexual repression, Cronenberg’s direction almost echoes this restraint and allows the script to be the film’s strength.
While Michael Fassbender’s Jung leaves something to be desired, he definitely makes up for it in artist-turned-filmmaker Steve McQueen’s second feature Shame, which follows Fassbender as sex addict Brandon in his New York City playground.
McQueen succeeds in creating a heavy yet fluid atmosphere through the characters of Brandon and his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan).
It is of course no surprise to learn that this role has earned Fassbender, who has previously been seen in Inglorious Basterds and X-Men: First Class, the Coppa Volpi forBest Actor.
A film festival is never complete without a surprise, and this year’s surprises came in the form of Madonna’s W.E, Cai Shangjun’s Ren Shan Ren Hai (People Mountain People Sea) and Thomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The hype around W.E, which tells the story of Wallis Simpson and her relationship with British King Edward VIII, left viewers sorely disappointed because of its artificiality.
On the other hand, winner of the Silver Lion Ren Shan Ren Hai, the Film Sorpresa of the festival which screened without approval from China’s censors, tells a dark tale of suffering and violence centring around a man’s hunt for his brother’s killer.
Swede Alfredson, known for his vampire film Let The Right One In, brought an adaptation of John Le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to Venice. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a good, old Cold War spy story with an all-star cast, including the likes of Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and newbie Benedict Cumberbatch, which engrosses audiences with its Cluedo-like nature.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has been hotly tipped for the coming Oscars, with Gary Oldman’s performance of Smiley generating a lot of buzz. Although he had some tough boots to fill, with Sir Alec Guinness having played a donnish Smiley in the well loved 1970s BBC mini-series, Oldman’s Smiley is definitely not in his shadow.
The most interesting films at this year’s festival went on to be recognised by Head Juror Darren Aronofsky – of Black Swan and The Wrestler fame – during the festival’s award ceremony. Alpis, Yorgios Lanthimos follow-up to the Oscar nominated Dogtooth went home with the Osella Award for Best Screenplay.
Set in present day Greece, Alpis follows a group of people who provide a ‘service’ for those with recently deceased family members, Alpis is more accessible than its predecessor – despite being unnerving – because it manages to retain a distinct humanism which sees Lanthimos almost shielding his characters.
Aronofsky’s jury awarded The Golden Lion to the dark horse of this year’s festival, Aleksandr Sokurov’s interpretation of Goethe’s Faust. Screenings were marked by a number of walkouts as well as hearty applause, splitting critics and audiences alike.
However, it is impossible to negate the fantastic and grotesque brilliance of Sokurov’s portrayal of Faust ‘the man’ and his journey with the disfigured Mephistopheles as a lusty quest for sex and power.
As the sun sets on number 68, festival director Marco Mueller ends on an almost philosophical note, describing Venice as a festival “for those who make, distribute them or simply love films”.
It seems that for 10 days the city that everyone says is sinking is given a little added buoyancy.