Okay, so I was mainly off the mark. When it comes to guessing festival awards, I usually am. But at the same time, few of the selections revealed tonight by Ang Lee’s jury at the closing ceremony of the Venice Film Festival really surprise me.
It was clear that Samuel Maoz’s “Lebanon” would walk away with something (I had it pencilled in for Best Director), given its combination of political currency and personal investment on the part of the director. (The film is an autobiographical reflection on his own experience in the First Lebanon War.) Personally, I think giving it the Golden Lion is a tad generous for a debut that, while very accomplished, never quite hits home emotionally, but it’s a reasonable winner.
I have more of a problem with the runner-up Grand Jury Prize going to Fatih Akin’s “Soul Kitchen,” though I saw it coming. The film is a sweet but slipshod effort that hardly represents the director’s strongest work; with several more deserving films in competition going unawarded, its selection feels like a nod to the more mainstream contingent of the competition. (The absence of critics’ favorite “Lourdes” from the winners list, meanwhile, is the biggest shock here.)
I honestly didn’t anticipate the Best Director award for well-regarded Iranian photographer-turned-filmmaker Shirin Neshat (for her debut feature “Women Without Men”), not least because it was one of the Competition titles I missed and I didn’t hear much talk about it on the Lido. I therefore can’t comment on the merits of the choice, but chalk it up as yet another milestone for female filmmakers in 2009. (Though sadly, for me at least, Claire Denis still can’t get any love from festival juries.)
Colin Firth’s Best Actor award was as inevitable as it was richly deserved — quite apart from the strength of his performance, his semi-Italian son status (he’s married to an Italian and speaks the language fluently in press conferences) made him a media favorite.
Speaking of hometown support, I was half-right in my inkling that the jury would use the weakly-contested Best Actress award to recognize one of the Italian entries, but the choice of gorgeous Russian thesp Ksenia Rappoport caught me off-guard: she carries genre-bending thriller “The Double Hour” with great finesse, but the role lacks the showy dramatics that usually carry off awards. A classy choice, then, even if it’s not the one I’d have made. (On a side note, both acting awards also went to films from first-time directors, making this quite the welcoming ceremony for fresh talent.)
Rounding out the awards, the Best Screenplay citation for Todd Solondz’s “Life During Wartime” was a virtual shoo-in, though the film’s makers might be disappointed not to have come away with more, given the consistent chatter the film generated all festival long.
Meanwhile, I’m interested, and quite pleased, to see that they’ve reverted to a general technical-contribution prize rather than the simple Best Cinematography prize they’ve handed out in year’s past: singling out the witty, inventive production design of Jaco van Dormael’s “Mr. Nobody” is both resourceful and intelligent.
Of course, anyone hoping this year’s Venice fest might provide some pointers for the awards season ahead won’t find much to chew on in this list of winners. “Lebanon” is likely to remain a very niche arthouse item, though the Lion will help its distribution chances. It’ll be interesting to see if Israel selects the film as their foreign-language Oscar entry, raising the possibility of a third consecutive nomination for a Lebanon War-themed film from the country. I fear, however, that “Lebanon” is less accessible than either “Beaufort” or “Waltz With Bashir.”
Possibly the only potential awards-season story to take away from the festival, then, is Colin Firth. Everyone agrees that “A Single Man” represents a career peak for a well-liked actor who has been toiling away for three decades now, but has rarely grabbed the spotlight for himself.
That could amount to a nifty Oscar campaign for the actor, but the film is currently without a distributor — and may yet be a touch esoteric for the Academy. Either way, it’s exciting to have a new name in the discussion. Watch this space.
Comments
5 responses to “Thoughts on the Venice winners”
REALLY liked Rappoport in the Unknown Woman. I’ll look forward to seeing her in this.
After your high praise for White Material,I too expected that it would win something. Too bad but the winners from the festival who seem to have a chance for further exposure are A Single Man and Life During Wartime.
Oh, I’m not surprised by the lack of recognition for “White Material” … just disappointed. For whatever reason, the film just didn’t catch on — it was the only screening I attended with no applause at the end, though I haven’t read a bad review for it either.
“Life During Wartime” will probably do nice niche business. The Academy won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, however.
Reading this is a little disheartening, Guy. The last two big winners from Venice were films that I will adore and cherish for many years – probably forever. Lebanon just sounds okay.
Well, you might feel differently about the film, Robert. That said, I didn’t meet any critic who was particularly passionate about it.
But don’t lose too much heart … there were a few great films at the fest, and the lack of prizes for them doesn’t make them any less treasurable.