The 81st annual Venice International Film Festival was hosted from Aug. 28 to Sept. 7 in Venice Lido, Italy. If Venice last year was regrettably deprived of top-drawer talent due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, this year celebrated the comeback of many stars, among them George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga and Jude Law.
French actress Isabella Hupper was Jury President for the main competition in companion with seven comprising filmmakers, James Gray, Andrew Haigh, Agnieszka Holland, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Abderrahmane Sissako, Giuseppe Tornatore, Julia von Heinzand and actress Zhang Ziyi, to select the best film for Golden Lion 2024 Award. The official selection of 21 movies competed in the main international competition along with a handful of movies screened out of competition.
“The Brutalist” by Brady Corbet was predicted to be the front-runner, quickly taking over the poll position of the critically acclaimed. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw described the movie as “a film with thrilling directness and storytelling force, a movie that fills its widescreen and three-and-a-half-hour running time with absolute certainty and ease, as well as glorious amplitude, clarity and even simplicity.”
Despite the highly positive reception of critics, “The Brutalist” couldn’t take the top prize as everyone expected. In the end, the Golden Lion went to Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar with the drama “The Room Next Door,” which was based on the English book “What Are You Going Through?” by Sigriz Nuez. The movie is about the relationship between Martha, an imperfect mother and war correspondent, and her resentful daughter. Owen Gleiberman from Variety commented: “Almodóvar has made a movie full of dialogue that has a ripe expository fervor.” The two-time Academy Award winner proved that he deserved to receive the Golden Lion for this emotionally touching movie
The festival’s second-highest award, the Grand Jury Prize, was given to Maura Delpero for the drama film “Vermiglio.” Variety’s Jessica Kiang described the film as “a grave and gorgeous hymn to life and death in a midcentury Italian Alpine village.” Bradshaw from The Guardian saw the movie as a “richly compassionate, emotional and detailed drama of family secrets in the wartime Italian countryside.”
The 81st Venice Film Festival is memorable for its return of big names, strong film roster, and role as a meeting point of the cinema world.
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