The Venice Film Festival, or if you want to use its ‘proper’ name the ‘International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale’, is rapidly approaching and the 82nd editions lineup… is really good.
With only a couple of days to go till show time on the Lido, i want to showcase some films i am really excited to see.
Before i delve in to the nitty gritty of the lineup, i thought it would only be fair to explain what the festival is, for anyone unfamiliar or just to provide more context.
What Is The Venice Film Festival?
The Venice Film Festival is an annual event, held on an island just off Venice called the Lido. It showcases many new films from a plethora of filmmakers, ranging from legendary auteurs all the way to burgeoning up and comers.
It is held during the dying days of August and runs into the start of September. It actually started way back in 1932, making it the world’s oldest film festival. Venice is considered to be one of the ‘big 3’ film festivals, alongside Cannes and Berlin.
The festival is separated into four different sections that all show (most of the time the screenings are actually world premieres!) new films; they are:
- In Competition
- Out Of Competition
- Orrizonti
- Spotlight
It is one of the most prestigious events in the film calendar and is used as a springboard for films looking to be major award players. Many of the films in competition end up being Best Picture nominees the following year at the Oscars etc… The festivals top prize, the Golden Lion, has been won by films like: Joker, Brokeback Mountain, Poor Things, Roma and The Shape Of Water, just to name a few!
The festival has a really diverse crowd; from A list celebrities and studio exec’s to international press and even the general public for certain gala premieres.
Now with the formalities out the way, lets breakdown my most anticipated films of the fest!
The Wizard Of The Kremlin
IN COMPETITION
The Wizard Of The Kremlin is an adaptation of an award winning book with the same title, published in 2022. The book recounts a fictionalised meeting between the author and a once powerful Russian political advisor, who was close acquaintances to the ‘The Tsar’, Vladimir Putin.
The film is directed by Olivier Assayas, a french auteur known for films such as: Irma Vep (1996), Demonlover (2002) and Personal Shopper (2016) (of which he actually won Best Director at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival).
This film really excites me because i think Assayas is actually the perfect person to make this. Demonlover (2002) is such an interesting, prescient film and it works as a quite fitting precursor to this film. One of Demonlover (2002)’s main themes is insatiable greed and more specifically the insatiable greed that comes with untapped opportunity. The film is a neo noir, espionage thriller about two different porn distributors jockeying for the distribution rights of a Japanese hentai studio (Yes, that sounds insane but just stick with me); but if you look at it on a deeper level its about shady multinational companies vying for control in a ‘new’ world birthed by the internet, where everything is accessible and everything is for sale.
The same type of themes carry over into The Wizard Of The Kremlin. Post Soviet Union Russia was chaos, the fall of an empire left a vacuum and power was there to be seized. Assayas has shown he can depict these themes with nuance and intelligence and i have every faith in him that he will smash this film out of the park.
Moreover, the cast is stacked with great actors like: Paul Dano, Jude Law, Alicia Vikander, Jeffrey Wright and Tom Sturridge just to name a few.
Jay Kelly
IN COMPETITION
Jay Kelly is a film about about a once legendary actor, Jay Kelly, and his trip through Europe whilst on his way to accept a lifetime achievement award at a prestigious film festival. Jay is joined by his manager and team throughout the journey as he is forced to come to grips with the decisions he has made throughout his career. The film is directed by Noah Baumbach, a New York native and indie darling of cinema. The film has been described as a coming of age story for adults in press releases for the film and this has got to be the most Noah Baumbach film description of all time.
Noah Baumbach has been a prolific voice in cinema for the last 20 years but has experienced a huge rise in fame in the last 5 in particular, thanks to the critical success of Marriage Story (2019) and commercial success of Barbie (2023), in which he co wrote with his wife, Greta Gerwig. Baumbach is one of my favourite working filmmakers, i love the way he writes dialogue and i think he is in a real purple patch of films at the minute. The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) is a masterclass in writing family dynamics and Marriage Story (2019) is an incredible exploration on identity, love and love after a relationship is over, it’s one of my favourite films ever and a film i consider to be perfect.
This takes me to White Noise (2022), a film that is incredibly divisive. It is not exactly lauded by most audiences but i think it is absolutely one of his best films. It’s Baumbach flexing all of his filmmaking prowess, it’s big and bold but also understated in doing so. Everything from the set design to the effects are a career best from Baumbach and it is just his undoubtedly best looking film, it’s beautifully shot by Lol Crawley.
I suppose i can understand why some people find White Noise (2022) to be jarring, especially for Noah Baumbach; the film is an adapted story with sci-fi elements that has a massive budget (three things he’s not used to) but i think it’s the big risk he took making it that feels so compelling. Baumbach is still an ambitious filmmaker and even though he’s going back to his roots with a more grounded story in Jay Kelly, i hope he continues taking big swings and risks in his work.
GHOST ELEPHANTS
OUT OF COMPETITION – NON FICTION
Ghost Elephants is the newest documentary from legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog. The documentary follows Dr Steven Boyes as he searches for a group of mysterious Elephants, that apparently live in the highlands of Angola, a place virtually uninhabitable. I say ‘apparently’ because this species of elephants are so endangered that people don’t even really know if they still exist anymore and have become the center of folk stories of all the nearby villages.
Herzog compared the documentary and experience to the hunt for Moby Dick; “the White Whale, came at me with great urgency. Like many of my films, this is an exploration of dreams, of imagination weighed against reality. The film took me to what the local tribesmen call the Land at the End of the Earth”.
Herzog is so effortlessly cool and i love his ability to consistently say the most profound statements as if they are matter of fact observations. One of my favourite quotes in the whole of cinema is from his documentary Grizzly Man (2005), where he reflects on the reality of nature:
“And what haunts me, is that in all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed, i discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature. To me, there is no such thing as a secret world of bears and this blank stare speaks only for a half bored interest in food, but for Timothy Treadwell, this bear was a friend, a saviour”.
Barrio Triste
ORIZZONTI
Barrio Triste is the feature film directorial debut for one of the most talented, up and coming creatives in the music scene, Matias Vasquez or more frequently known by his pseudonym ‘Stillz’. Vasquez has shot to fame thanks to his incredible collaborations with popular Latin American singers like Bad Bunny and Rosalia, where he has made multiple music videos and photographed them for magazines and campaigns.
The film takes places during the late 80’s in Medellin, Colombia where local residents have reported strange lights that keep descending from the sky; when a reporter turns up to the scene to investigate, their camera is stolen by a rag tag group of teen’s from a lawless neighbourhood. What ensues is chaos as the camera drifts through their world and captures an unflinching portrayal of youth on the margins of history.
With Vasquez at the helm of the film, Barrio Triste not only channels the buzz around one of Latin America’s most creative names but also has good industry backing as well. Harmony Korine and his team at EDGLRD are all executive producers on the film and i think their involvement in Vasquez’s debut film says a lot about the nature and potential of the project. Much like Korine’s own, Gummo (1997), Barrio Triste could redefine what a coming of age story really looks like.
Bugonia
IN COMPETITION
Bugonia is the newest film from acclaimed Greek filmmaker, Yorgos Lanthimos. The film is actually actually an English language remake of a South Korean film called Save The Green Planet! (2003). It follows two conspiracy theorist brothers, who kidnap a major CEO because they are convinced she is secretly an alien trying to destroy the world.
The project see’s Lanthimos link up with Emma Stone for their fourth film together. Their partnership has became one of contemporary cinema’s most prominent director and actor duo’s and this is brilliant to see because they work so well together.
Lanthimos is a master of the weird, he’s a filmmaker who loves to work within unsettling stories and Bugonia looks to carry on that trend.
Bugonia was also filmed in 35mm VistaVision and will be screened in it too, so it’s a cool opportunity to see the film in its intended format.
The Smashing Machine
IN COMPETITION
The Smashing Machine is Benny Safdie’s solo directorial debut, after having a successful partnership co directing with his brother, Josh Safdie. Benny is coming of an impressive run of work, receiving immense critical acclaim for the films Good Times (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019) before stepping in front of the camera for a major role in Christopher Nolan’s oscar dominating Oppenheimer (2023).
The Smashing Machine is actually a biopic about former mixed martial artist Mark Kerr; who’s career as a legendary trailblazer of the sport is also marked by personal and public struggles outside of the ring/cage.
Mark Kerr is played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in the film and it’s a huge opportunity to rewrite his reputation away from phoned in, family blockbusters as it’s a role that could effectively rewrite his career and potentially forge an awards push for himself and the film. The fact it is premiering at Venice, in competition aswell, before its worldwide release suggests A24 believe it is a serious awards player.
In The Hand Of Dante
OUT OF COMPETITION – FICTION
In The Hand Of Dante is the latest film from the illustrious artist turned filmmaker Julian Schnabel. The film is an adaptation of the book with the same name by Nick Tosches.
The film uses two different timelines to tell its story. One in present day, where the author, Nick Tosches, is infact the protagonist and is called back from a self imposed exile by a mafioso to authenticate what they believe is the lost original manuscript of ‘Divine Comedy’ by the iconic 14th century poet Dante. The other timeline is Dante’s 0wn era as we follow the poet try and navigate the politics of the time whilst he struggles with love and faith.
Schnabel has described the film as an exploration on the pursuit of perfection, the creation of art and reincarnation:
“In the struggle for perfection in art, our lives may be less than perfect — even plagued with failure — but everything that exists outside the work of art doesn’t exist. The goal is to become the poem. Dante and Nick achieved that. I’m still working on it. Everything I really have to say is in my art”.
The cast is also stacked with A-list actors like: Oscar Isaac, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Jason Momoa, Al Pacino and even features a rare acting cameo from one of the best living directors, Martin Scorsese.
Late Fame
ORRIZONTI
Late Fame is Kent Jones’ first film since Diane (2018), a return to directing for the uniquely multifaceted critic, writer, editor, archivist, festival programmer etc the list could go on.
The film is based on one of Austria’s most accomplished writers, Arthur Schnitzler’s novella of the same name but reimagines the story to take place in a contemporary setting.
The film focuses on a relatively unsuccessful poet from New York, Ed Saxberger, played by Willem Dafoe, who’s work suddenly blows up among a group of young ‘creatives. Intoxicated by the attention, Ed is forced to confront the authenticity of his newfound acclaim.
The novella is a satire of ‘young Viennese society and culture’ and particularly criticises their obsession with status and inherent vanity surrounding art; i am really interested to see how the film adapts this satire to shine a light on the hypocrisy and ambitions of todays young creative world.
That’s the list of my 8 most anticipated films at the Venice Film Festival this year, i really hoped you enjoyed the read and potentially found some films that also tickle your interests.
We will be in attendance at the 82nd Venice Film Festival and will be regularly updating our blog page with the newest film reviews from the lido and posting all the news and spottings on our social pages.
