Many stars refused to participate, but we still had fun. Here because
Paolo Fiorelli
September 14, 2023 at 08:02
Do you know that time when you were on a romantic date and got dumped? Well, this year at the Lido we all felt something like that. I had a date with Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone… and they didn’t show up! There’s no denying it: 80To The Venice Film Festival will be remembered as “The American Strike.” It’s not fair! There were great films, and the red carpet continued to feature actors like Patrick Dempsey and Adam Driver, directors like Woody Allen, and a host of Italian characters who gave the festival an unusual but pleasantly autarchic feel. But what will we remember most?
High water level
Those who arrived on August 29 or 30 found high water, Venetians walking barefoot through San Marco, and many problems carrying suitcases. Then, in September, glorious sunshine.
Strike
Many actors refused to participate due to the American strike. But why are they on strike? Giancarlo Giannini explained it to us: “Artificial intelligence makes it possible to reproduce the image of actors at will. And they rightly don’t want this. Eventually an agreement will be found. Once, due to a similar strike, my film with Spielberg was canceled!
Controversy
To brighten up the somewhat dreary mood of festival-goers, their favorite attraction has arrived: a cute controversy. The insightful Pierfrancesco Favino thought about this: “Why should an Italian character be played by an American?” And Adam Driver, the protagonist of Ferrari, had a ringing in his ears.
George, hubby
In the end, the biggest star was the “ordinary” George Clooney, who, however, played the role of… a caring husband to his wife Amal, rewarded for her commitment to human rights.
Blockbuster in the style of Tarantina
For Favino’s film Comandante, a 1940s submarine measuring 70 meters long and weighing 73 tons was rebuilt in Taranto. The work took eight months. And so the producers say: “We don’t know what to do with this anymore. Do you want to rent?”
Dempsey is a real driver
Patrick Dempsey is a real racing driver and that’s why at Ferrari he personally drove a precious 1957 Ferrari (“I was driving at 200 miles per hour, at night and without a cockpit: I couldn’t see anything. I’ve never been so scared.”) . However, they didn’t believe Adam Driver: the scenes in which he drives the car are fake.
Gender change
Edwige Fenech hates being remembered as the “queen of sex comedy.” Today she feels like a drama producer and actress and told us: “It turns you off!” It’s better not if they are so beautiful.
All in the family
Also on the red carpet in Pietro Castellitto’s Aeneas were his three brothers (one of whom, Cesare, stars in the film), his father Sergio (who also has a role) and his mother Margaret Mazzantini, a famous writer. Things that would make the Comencini (another historic film family) shiver.
From Costanzo to Costanzo
Saverio Costanzo dedicated his film “Finamente l’alba” to his father Maurizio, who died on February 24: “It’s the least I could do.”
Baptism Lido
Aldo Giovanni and Giacomo were guests of the Exhibition for the first time and did not hide their joy. So much so that they ironically launched the idea of “The Great Rust”, a film of the so-called “Sorrento type”, for which they are asking 20 million euros: “Only for us. Then we would have to pay for the production, locations, other actors…” Can we bet that this will never happen?
Woody in Italy
Woody Allen made his first film in French. So we asked him if he was willing to do it in Italian. And he said, “All you have to do is find me financiers crazy enough to accept my terms: they don’t have to know anything until the film is finished. Then I’m ready to film it in Icelandic.”
Protests
The (few) demonstrators protested against: Luc Besson, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Bradley Cooper’s overly large fake nose in Maestro, the film Comandante (because it’s “about a fascist”), Emma Stone’s sexual exploits in Poor Creatures. !”, toxic man Elvis Presley in “Priscilla” (and the real Priscilla, the ex-wife of the king of rock, said at the Lido: “This is a portrait of a love story, with its ups and downs”). If there is no debate, what kind of festival is this?
And the winners?
You can find them all below, as well as plenty of other news from the festival. See you in 2024!
Majority…
- MOVING: “I AM THE CAPTAIN” Matteo Garrone
The Odyssey of Two Senegalese Boys is a meditation on a timely topic as well as an excellent adventure novel. - FEMINIST: “PRISCILLA” Sofia Coppola and “POOR CREATURES!” Yorgos Lanthimos
Submissive Priscilla Presley (Cailee Spaeny) takes years to get rid of her husband Elvis, and… “Frankenstein’s woman” (Emma Stone) frees herself from men to become independent. - NOSTALGIA: FERRARI Michael Mann
Starring Adam Driver, the film pays homage to 1950s Italy and its values of resistance and hope, hard work and… good food. - ECOLOGICAL: “EVIL DOES NOT EXIST” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Slow-paced but visually stunning, the Japanese director (Oscar winner for Drive My Car) is a paean to the delicate balance between man and nature. - MAD: “DOGMAN” Luc Besson
Strangest superpower: understanding and guiding a pack of dogs as if they were brothers. Direct them to the set? Nightmare. - FIST TO STOMACH: HAPPINESS Michaela Ramazzotti
If a film has a good title, it is often… a blow of despondency. Ramazzotti’s excellent directorial debut was no exception. - SURPRISE: “CHANCE” by Woody Allen
The unexpected twist turned the thriller into a comedy and drew applause from the audience. What a pity not to tell about this, it would be a spoiler (and a crime).