Whether due to general festival raggedness or some iffy shrimp, I’ve been decidedly under the weather today, and a day spent in a darkened movie theater was not the obvious solution. So I’m writing to you from a quiet cafe on a canalside terrace near the Biennale site, where a combination of sunshine and pistachio pastries are doing the healing.
Luckily, my festival time-out has coincided with a bit of a lull in the lineup, apparently quite normal at this stage in the proceedings: no Competition title in the last two days has really set the Lido alight, with the reviews for George A. Romero’s “Survival of the Dead” suggesting the Venice programmers’ mainstream punt hasn’t paid off.
(I was, however, a little disappointed to miss a midnight premiere of Antoine Fuqua’s out-of-competition “Brooklyn’s Finest,” which has accumulated some buzz for Ethan Hawke’s performance.)
The competition (and hopefully, me with it) returns to fighting strength tomorrow with Fatih Akin’s “Soul Kitchen” and Jaco van Dormael’s “Mr. Nobody,” while Friday brings the festival’s most curiously awaited title, fashion designer Tom Ford’s “A Single Man.”
Meanwhile, last night a critic friend and I were trying to tease out the Golden Lion frontrunners from the films already screened, and narrowed it to five, none particularly clear-cut. “Life During Wartime” could be the prohibitive favorite at present, though does the fact that an American film (“The Wrestler”) won last year count against it?
“Lourdes” has the critics’ support, but Venice often favors bigger-name auteurs than Jessica Hausner for the top prize. Ditto the well-reviewed but difficult-to-stomach “Lebanon.” Claire Denis certainly has auteur cred, and is long overdue for festival gold, but “White Material,” while well-regarded, hasn’t quite caught fire. (Except with me.) On the other hand, as my friend pointed out, no contender so far resembles an Ang Lee work — in its technical and sociological detail — more than hers. (Lee is the jury president, in case you’ve forgotten.)
There’s lots of critical love for “Accident,” a Hong Kong hitman thriller that appears headed straight for Hollywood remake treatment (and another film I unfortunately didn’t catch), but Venice has little history of rewarding genre efforts. (That, I hope, should discount “Bad Lieutenant,” though there’s a lingering sentimental affection for the film that has me oh-so-slightly worried. Michael Moore’s publicity, meanwhile, should prove its own reward.)
Of course, all this is pointless conjecture, since the jury is discouraged from reading the press and can frequently go against the grain of popular opinion. Just two years ago, Lee’s very own “Lust, Caution” was a surprise winner following a hostile public reception and muted critical approval. That its reputation has since been considerably rehabilitated is testament to what a difference a major festival gong can still make to a film’s fortunes.
Comments
9 responses to “Man down in Venice”
from someone who was SERIOUSLY under the weather all through the last week on account of some iffy sushi, my sincerest best wishes, Guy!
shame you’re missing some films, huh…
I saw “Brooklyn’s Finest” at Sundance . This is the first time I hear anybody mentioning it again, I’m glad it didn’t fell off the face of the earth. It is a dark film but a good one, nonetheless. Hopefully it will resurface and get distribution.
“…which has accumulated some buzz for Ethan Hawke’s performance.”
Was it the same buzz that got Ethan shoved into Best Supporting Actor for an obvious leading role? Sorry, that still pisses me off.
Whoa, I didn’t even know Akin had a new movie out. Definitely curious to hear about how that one is Guy.
Is “A Single Man” not just a retread of Malle’s “The Fire Within?” It essentially sounds like it to me, minus a few aspects.
During the recent festival in my city (Melbourne) I developed a serious bout of the flu that very nearly turned into pneumonia. It actually spread around the fest as I know quite a few people got very sick (some of which did indeed end up with pneumonia) so there ya go.
Hi Guy, love that you have posted Shirley Henderson’s picture. Was she good in “Life during Wartime”? I always thought that she was one of England’s under-appreciated actresses. She was good in “Wonderland” (my first encounter with her films) and “Topsy-Turvy” and “Bridget Jones”
Speaking English: Well, it’s an adaptation of the famous Christopher Isherwood novel, which was a virtual contemporary of the Malle film. (One year younger, as it happens.) If that makes it a “retread” to you, that’s your call. Personally, I don’t see that many similarities beyond the vaguely structural.
Marshall: Yes, she’s very good in “Life During Wartime.” She has a line about Joni Mitchell delivered with such beautiful deadpan I nearly doubled over. Not many weak links in that entire cast, for that matter.
Judging from the critical reception, I’m thinking that maybe “Between Two Worlds” is the one to watch for the Leone.