Venice 2011

[B-side]

In Competition:
“Alps,” directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
“A Burning Hot Summer,” directed by Philippe Garrel
“Carnage,” directed by Roman Polanski
“A Dangerous Method,” directed by David Cronenberg
“Dark Horse,” directed by Todd Solondz
“The Exchange,” directed by Eran Kolirin
“Faust,” directed by Alexander Sokurov
“Himizu,” directed by Sion Sono
“Killer Joe,” directed by William Friedkin
“The Ides of March,” directed by George Clooney (Opening Night)
“Last Day on Earth,” directed by Abel Ferrara
“The Moth Diaries,” directed by Mary Harron
“Poulet aux prunes,” directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
“Quando la notte,” directed by Cristina Comencini
“Seediq Bale,” directed by Wei Te-sheng
“Shame,” directed by Steve McQueen
“Terraferma,” directed by Emanuele Crialese
“Texas Killing Fields” directed by Ami Canaan Mann
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” directed by Tomas Alfredson
“L’ultimo terrestre,” directed by Gipi
“W.E.,” directed by Madonna
“Wuthering Heights,” directed by Andrea Arnold

Out of Competition:
“La folie Almayer,” directed by Chantal Akerman

Horizons section:
“I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad and the Beautiful,” directed by Jonathan Demme
“Sal,” directed by James Franco

Insane lineup. Ferrara out of nowhere. What I wouldn't give to be there.

[baby doll]

Insane lineup. Ferrara out of nowhere. What I wouldn't give to be there.That does seem like a ridiculously good line-up... on paper. I read the comic book that Poulet aux prunes is based on, and while it's really good (no Persepolis of course), I wonder how she's going to make a movie out of it. (For starters, it's only fifty pages long.)

[Raiders]

That does seem like a ridiculously good line-up... on paper. I read the comic book that Poulet aux prunes is based on, and while it's really good (no Persepolis of course), I wonder how she's going to make a movie out of it. (For starters, it's only fifty pages long.)

Are you sure you have the whole thing? Mine is longer than fifty pages.

[Boner M]

Rumor is that Akerman's film dreadful and passed on Director's Fortnight at Cannes.

Still, that comp lineup is to die for. Hope everyone delivers.

[Boner M]

Whoa, grammar fail.

[Raiders]

That is a remarkable line-up. Insane that Franco's film will be festival ready in a month considering he wrapped shooting like, four weeks ago.

But seriously, I kind of want to see almost every film on that list.

[right_for_the_moment]

Add Whit Stillman's first movie in a dozen + years to that list.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/whit_stillmans_damsels_in_dist ress_to_close_2011_venice_film _festival/

[Pop Trash]

Add Whit Stillman's first movie in a dozen + years to that list.


Ew.

[Raiders]

Ew.

I'll counter this and say it is probably the film I am now anticipating most of pratically all of them.

EDIT: Which reminds me... no Terence Davies? Guess that would have put too much awesome in one place.

[Pop Trash]

Holy smokes, that is a good lineup. Venice is becoming as good as Cannes/Toronto.

[Pop Trash]

I'll counter this and say it is probably the film I am now anticipating most of pratically all of them.


You're a big fan of annoying upper west side bourgeois New Yorkers?

[Raiders]

You're a big fan of annoying upper west side bourgeois New Yorkers?

I'm a huge fan of Stillman's observant, sly depictions of them.

[Irish]

Criticisms of Stillman's work are almost always valid, but I have to agree with Raiders: I'm curious as hell to see anything he releases.

First movie in 12 years, though? What the hell has he been doing all this time?!

[Ezee E]

Love it. 1/2 of these will probably be at Telluride.

[Spinal]

“W.E.,” directed by Madonna


Wait ... what?

[Pop Trash]

I'm a huge fan of Stillman's observant, sly depictions of them.

I dunno. I attempted to watch Metropolitan one time and I pretty much wanted to shoot my TV Elvis style.

[baby doll]

Are you sure you have the whole thing? Mine is longer than fifty pages.Actually, my copy is back in Canada, so I just pulled that figure from memory. Wikipedia says 96 pages, which sounds about right. In any case, that's still a lot shorter than Persepolis, which is 350 fifty pages.

[TripZone]

EDIT: Which reminds me... no Terence Davies? Guess that would have put too much awesome in one place.

Toronto.

[B-side]

Mostly mixed reviews for A Dangerous Method. Madonna's film is getting destroyed. Alps is being lauded. IndieWire called Garrel's new film a thundering bore verging on self-parody.

[Boner M]

Poor Garrel.

[Yxklyx]

Wait ... what?

HELLO - Where have you been? This is like her SECOND film already. :crazy::)

[Boner M]

IndieWire called Garrel's new film a thundering bore verging on self-parody.
I just the first paragraph of their review:

There are certain cliches associated with European cinema—they’re not necessarily always accurate but they do exist. Ask a layman—a well educated, smart, nice person who might not be quite as subtitle-happy as you or I—what they imagine they might see in, say, an average French film, and a number of things might come up. Characters who are constantly having extra-marital affairs, for instance. A vaguely homoerotic relationship between two friends. Unbroken four-to-five minute takes. Dialogue talking about ‘the revolution.’ An actress, perhaps Monica Bellucci, taking her clothes off within the first 45 seconds. If you were to take this layman’s thoughts and turn them into a screenplay, you’d end up with “Un Été Brûlant” (or “A Scorching Summer”) the latest from Venice Film Festival favorite Philippe Garrel
Reviews like this are the reason I hate The Playlist: glib, kneejerk 'above it all' dismissals that look solely at the generic traits of films and nothing else. Worthless.

[B-side]

I glanced at a bit of the review and it sounded kinda silly, but I figured it was worth mentioning anyway, if only because it's the only review I found of it.

[Boner M]

It's getting mostly thrashed elsewhere, granted. That's been the course for Garrel in the last 20-ish years though (Regular Lovers aside); he has an earnestness and humorlessness that doesn't play well in the fickle film-fest climate.

[B-side]

Knew you'd love that Kiarostami. Best of the trilogy, I think.

But yeah, I don't really have a go-to fest blogger or anything, so I just resorted to Google. Anxious to hear responses to Faust and Ferrara's latest.

[Boner M]

Knew you'd love that Kiarostami. Best of the trilogy, I think.
The ending complements Certified Copy's central theme quite neatly. The copy can not only be just as rich and rewarding as the original, but it can expose the bureaucratic loopholes of formal education - and save your ass to boot.

[B-side]

The ending complements Certified Copy's central theme quite neatly. The copy can not only be just as rich and rewarding as the original, but it can expose the bureaucratic loopholes of formal education - and save your ass to boot.

Never thought of it that way. Nice.

[baby doll]

It's getting mostly thrashed elsewhere, granted. That's been the course for Garrel in the last 20-ish years though (Regular Lovers aside); he has an earnestness and humorlessness that doesn't play well in the fickle film-fest climate.Garrel has his moments of humor. (I'm thinking in particular of the courtroom sequence in Les Amants réguliers.) But yeah, film festivals are still essentially trade shows designed to promote and sell new merchandise, and while Garrel's films have become more commercial since he started casting his son in everything he does (who would've guessed that simply adding Louis Garrel would increase his mainstream visibility tenfold?), there are few narrative filmmakers whose works more thoroughly resist the demands of the market place.

[transmogrifier]

he has an earnestness and humorlessness that doesn't play well in the fickle film-fest climate.

Terrence Malick begs to differ.

[Pop Trash]

Poor Garrel.

He's always had a rather small, but passionate, support among certain critics though (Kent Jones is a fan).

[Boner M]

Alps, Tinker Tailor et al and Shame are getting great reviews. Very encouraging to see the n00bs getting the plaudits.

[Boner M]

Hmm... I'm calling Shame for the Lion win after reading many review. Or at least Fassbender for best actor.

[Ezee E]

Hmm... I'm calling Shame for the Lion win after reading many review. Or at least Fassbender for best actor.
Haven't read many reviews, but certainly doesn't seem to be the type of movie that will get people to vote for it. Maybe chances for Fassbender/Mulligan still. Great movie though.

[Boner M]

4:44 LAST DAY ON EARTH: Ferrara's apocalypse includes W. Dafoe, guitars, smack, sex, lots of youtube & Skype, Al Gore, Dalai Lama... 4:44 a nice companion to NEW ROSE HOTEL, tho not nearly as good. Marred by dumb premise (Sample line: "Al Gore was right!")


4:44 LAST DAY ON EARTH (Ferrara, W/O) Managed 30mins of Dafoe facing apocalypse and fingering gf, until realising this could be MY last day.


Word on the street is that Abel Ferrara's new film premiering in competition in Venice, "4.44 Last Day on Earth," is extraordinary.

I think these could be the first impressions of every Ferrara film ever.

[B-side]

I'm not sure if the Lodge bit is positive or negative.

[soitgoes...]

I'm not sure if the Lodge bit is positive or negative.
Well he walked out, so I imagine he wasn't too positive on it.

[B-side]

Well he walked out, so I imagine he wasn't too positive on it.

Oh, OK. I see now. "W/O" means walk out. Never seen a Ferrara that was even close to being walk out worthy, so whatever.

[Boner M]

Early predix:

Lion: Himizu
Jury prize: A Simple Life
Actor: Michael Fassbender, Shame
Actress: Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method
Director: Andrea Arnold, Wuthering Heights
Screenplay: Alps
Technical prize: Faust's cinematography

[Boner M]

Oh, OK. I see now. "W/O" means walk out. Never seen a Ferrara that was even close to being walk out worthy, so whatever.
Keep in mind that Lodge's tastes are very upper-middlebrow (yes, I'm hoping that term becomes a thing).

[B-side]

Keep in mind that Lodge's tastes are very upper-middlebrow (yes, I'm hoping that term becomes a thing).

I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean.:lol:

[TripZone]

What have been the favourites? I'm not in the mood to Google.

[Boner M]

This (http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/tag/Venice) is as good a guide as any.

[TripZone]

Perfect. Thanks babe.

[Stay Puft]

Nobody posted this yet?

VENEZIA 68

Golden Lion for Best Film
Faust by Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)

Silver Lion for Best Director
Shangjun CAI for the film Ren Shan Ren Hai (People Mountain People Sea) (China - Hong Kong)

Special Jury Prize
Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese (Italy)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actor
Michael Fassbender in the film Shame by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actress
Deanie Yip in the film Tao jie (A Simple Life) by Ann Hui (China - Hong Kong)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Shôta Sometani and Fumi Nikaidô in the film Himizu by Sion Sono (Japan)

Osella for the Best Cinematography
Robbie Ryan for the film Wuthering Heights by Andrea Arnold (United Kingdom)

Osella for Best Screenplay
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for the film Alpis (Alps) by Yorgos Lanthimos (Grecia)

[Stay Puft]

Also, Jia Zhang-ke presents the Orizzonti Award to Shinya Tsukamoto for Kotoko:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SNxC1FOE_k&feature=player_embedded

Hype is going to 11.

[Ezee E]

Hurrah for Fassbender!

[baby doll]

That does seem like a ridiculously good line-up... on paper. I read the comic book that Poulet aux prunes is based on, and while it's really good (no Persepolis of course), I wonder how she's going to make a movie out of it. (For starters, it's only fifty pages long.)So I watched Poulet aux prunes last night and it moved me to tears--a good illustration of how a good cast can bring a story to life. Also, it's wonderful to look at.

[TripZone]

Alps, Tinker Tailor et al and Shame are getting great reviews. Very encouraging to see the n00bs getting the plaudits.

Funny...none of these were good.

[NickGlass]

Funny...none of these were good.

Tinker Tailor is the best of the three, but, overall, yeah--Venice was not prescient last year.


So I watched Poulet aux prunes last night and it moved me to tears--a good illustration of how a good cast can bring a story to life. Also, it's wonderful to look at.

I thought it was an obvious, mawkish mess. Despite being a champion of all-things Persepolis, I cringed through a majority of this crude aping of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's empty, frenzied aesthetic.

[baby doll]

I thought it was an obvious, mawkish mess. Despite being a champion of all-things Persepolis, I cringed through a majority of this crude aping of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's empty, frenzied aesthetic.It's definitely corny (particularly the idea that one needs to be heartbroken to be a great musician), but then so are a lot of terrific movies. Furthermore, I didn't find it to be a mess (as storytelling, it's loose by Hollywood standards, but I like that sometimes), much less frenzied despite all the jumping back and forth in time; indeed, I think part of what makes the film so effective is its manner of revealing information to the viewer. As for "empty," that's a nonsense term when describing a movie.