- Title: ITALY: Venice gets ready for its 63rd film festival
- Date: 31st August 2006
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARCO MULLER, VENICE FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR, SAYING: "There are some very special, very original films which are normally released everywhere actually in the world in the fall. One festival which can create a unique visibility for those films is the Venice Film Festival. I think the experience of the past three years has proved to what extent Venice i
- Embargoed: 15th September 2006 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVABD6TJPP0W94HA0VS3OH7F7DMD
- Story Text: Across the water from Venice, far from the Gondolas and tourists, final preparations are being made for the city's eagerly awaited 63rd film festival.
Dozens of winged golden lions were ready place outside the main theatre and the red carpet was being unrolled to welcome the stars to the festival that Italians lovingly call the Mostra del Cinema.
All films competing for the top prize at this year's festival will receive their world premiere during the 11 day competition held along the exclusive Lido beachfront across the water from one of the world's most romantic cities.
Venice Film Festival Director Marco Muller, said the festival gave special visibility to films and was not simply a launching pad.
"There are some very special, very original films which are normally released everywhere actually in the world in the fall. One festival which can create a unique visibility for those films is the Venice Film Festival," he said.
Kicking off the festival will be the widely anticipated film "The Black Dahlia", about two policemen assigned to investigate the brutal murder of an unknown actress.
Set in 1947 and based on a crime novel by James Ellroy, the movie stars Scarlett Johansson and two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank as a mysterious figure linked to the crime.
As with other major productions among the 21 entries in the main competition, Black Dahlia director Brian de Palma will be hoping favourable press coverage in Venice raises the profile of his film in the long run-up to the Oscars next year.
Hollywood watchers say they have seen little so far in the way of potential contenders for the Academy Awards held in February, and film festivals like Venice and Toronto are an important factor in the countdown.
Last year "Brokeback Mountain" premiered in Venice and went on to win the top Golden Lion award, helping it secure pre-Oscar buzz and go on to be the favourite to win the best film Academy Award. It eventually lost out to "Crash
But one Italian cinema critic, Natalia Aspesi, said she thought Venice did not have a genuine impact on the Oscars and that Hollywood did not pay any real attention to it.
"It (the Venice Film Festival) has a totally different mechanism. In Hollywood, or rather the Hollywood world which will vote for the Oscars is not even aware that the Venice Film Festival exists, "said Aspesi, writer for prominent Italian daily 'La Repubblica'.
The movie is a fitting opening to a festival also featuring competition entrants "Hollywoodland", about the mysterious death of Superman TV star George Reeves in 1959, and "Bobby", about the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968.
Hollywoodland stars Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck and Bob Hoskins, while Sharon Stone, Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore and Lindsay Lohan appear in Emilio Estevez's Bobby.
Out of competition but sure to create a stir in Venice is "Infamous", Douglas McGrath's take on the life of writer Truman Capote starring Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Gwyneth Paltrow and Isabella Rossellini.
And, as the Lido prepared for the rush of celebrities and fans, one resident of the area said he was not looking forward it all.
"They should hold it (the film festival) somewhere else. We have no life for the next 10 days or so. You can't pass through the streets, the island is small and there aren't many alternatives," complained Luciano.
Also eagerly awaited by Oscar watchers will be Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain" and Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men", with Clive Owen, Michael Caine and Julianne Moore about a plague of infertility that threatens humankind.
Director David Lynch is expected on the Lido with "Inland Empire", as is Jackie Chan for "Rob-B-Hood", Kenneth Branagh with the world premiere of "The Magic Flute" and Paul Verhoeven for "Zwartboek" about a German Jewish girl in World War Two.
The main competition includes four Asian films, underlining Venice as a festival friendly to the region.
Also vying for the Golden Lion is Britain's Stephen Frears, whose "The Queen" examines the royal family's reaction to the death in a 1997 car crash of popular Princess Diana. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None