The Screengrab : venice international film festival

Aronofsky’s “Wrestler” Bodyslams Venice Competition

Paul Clark — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

A few months ago, the prospect of a Darren Aronofsky wrestling picture would have seemed as unlikely to me as a G-rated David Lynch movie. Despite winning a competition berth in Venice and being selected as the Closing Night film at the New York Film Festival, I was skeptical that it might work. But with yesterday’s announcement that The Wrestler won Venice’s Golden Lion for Best Film, I’ve become a believer.

What I’m happiest about here is that the film is another important step in the ongoing comeback of Mickey Rourke, the gifted but troubled 80s-era leading man who slipped into self-parody during the early nineties, only to re-emerge recently as a fascinating character actor. The first sign of this came in scene-stealing work in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rainmaker and Sean Penn’s The Pledge, followed by more substantial roles in movies like Sin City. But The Wrestler marks his first lead role in years, and it’s good to see that he’s still able to carry a movie on his shoulders.

Here’s a short video I found on YouTube about the movie:

Complete Venice Awards:

Golden Lion for Best Film: The Wrestler directed by Darren Aronofsky
Silver Lion for Best Director: Aleksey German Jr. for Paper Soldier
Special Jury Prize: Teza directed by Haile Gerima
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Silvio Orlando for Il Papa di Giovanna
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Dominique Blanc for L’autre
Marcello Mastroianni Prize for Best Young Actor or Actress: Jennifer Lawrence for The Burning Plain
Osella for Best Cinematography: Paper Soldier (Alisher Khamidhodjaev and Maxim Drozdov)
Osella for Best Screenplay: Teza (Haile Gerima)
Special Lion for Overall Work: Werner Schroeter, “for his uncompromising and relentlessly innovative work over a period of 40 years.”
Luigi Di Laurentiis Award for Debut Film: Pranzo di Farragosto, directed by Gianni Di Gregorio

Trailer Review: Rachel Getting Married

Paul Clark — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:00:00 GMT

For years, Anne Hathaway has been attempting to make the transition from Disney-family princess roles to full-blown adult stardom. But despite a handful of much-appreciated topless scenes in Havoc and Brokeback Mountain, it hasn’t quite happened yet. I suppose part of the problem is that Hathaway’s roles have been less showy than her costars’, resulting in them getting the lion’s share of the attention. But this time, Hathaway’s not taking any chances, playing a recovering addict whose erratic behavior throws something of a monkey wrench into the wedding of her sister. However, in spite of this quirky setup, I’ve got high hopes for Rachel Getting Married, with director Jonathan Demme making a long-overdue return to off-kilter comedy, and the presence of the sorely-missed Debra Winger in the pivotal role of Hathaway’s tough-love mom, a part she ought to turn into something more than a long-suffering cliché. Plus it’s in the Competition lineup at Venice, which is enough of an endorsement for me.

Hathaway Hotness, Rourke Smackdowns Head Venice Comp Lineup

Paul Clark — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Today brought the announcement of the Competition lineup for next month’s 65th annual Venice International Film Festival. Among the highest-profile American titles in the lineup was the upcoming Jonathan Demme film, Rachel Getting Married (starring the lovely Anne Hathaway, pictured at right) and the sorely-missed Debra Winger. Another intriguing title is The Wrestler, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Mickey Rourke, no doubt eager to try out a new sport after his abortive boxing career. Of course, if you’re looking for something really great, a solid bet would be the latest film by animation master Hayao Miyazaki, entitled Ponyo on Cliff by the Sea, also in Competition.

Other filmmakers of note in Competition include: Takeshi Kitano (Achilles and the Tortoise), Barbet Schroeder (Inju, la Bete dans l’ombre), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Mamoru Oshii (The Sky Crawlers), Werner Schroeter (Nuit de Chien), and Ferzan Oztepek (Un giorno perfetto). Then there’s the directorial debut of Babel screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, entitled The Burning Plain. Expect a trio of interlocking stores and plenty of tortured, writerly multi-culti coincidence.

Here’s the full Competition slate:

Darren Aronofsky- The Wrestler
Guillermo Arriaga- The Burning Plain
Pupi Avati- Il papà di Giovanna
Marco Bechis- BirdWatchers
Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic- L’Autre
Kathryn Bigelow- Hurt Locker
Pappi Corsicato- Il seme della discordia
Jonathan Demme- Rachel Getting Married
Haile Gerima- Teza
Aleksey German Jr.- Bumažnyj soldat (Paper Soldier)
Semih Kaplanoglu- Süt
Takeshi Kitano- Akires to kame (Achilles and the Tortoise)
Hayao Miyazaki- Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on Cliff by the Sea)
Amir Naderi- Vegas: Based on a True Story
Mamoru Oshii- The Sky Crawlers
Ferzan Özpetek- Un giorno perfetto
Christian Petzold- Jerichow
Barbet Schroeder- Inju, la Bête dans l’ombre
Werner Schroeter- Nuit de chien
Tariq Teguia- Gabbla (Inland)
YU Lik-wai- Dangkou (Plastic City)

Strangely enough, this year’s Out of Competition selections are more impressive-looking overall than the titles that are actually competing. Playing outside of competition are new films from the likes of Abbas Kiarostami (Shirin, starring Juliette Binoche), Claire Denis (35 Rhums), Agnes Varda (Les Plages d’Agnes), a new version of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s La Rabbia, and short films by Manoel de Oliveira (Do Visivel ao Invisivel) and Jia Zhang-ke (Cry Me a River). Also, there’s a little movie called Burn After Reading by a pair of filmmaking brothers. Didn’t catch their names, I’m afraid.

The 65th Annual Venice International Film Festival runs from August 27 through September 6. Click here for more information.

Movies We Missed: Les Revenants [They Came Back] (2004, Robin Campillo)

Paul Clark — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:00:00 GMT

I know what you're thinking. You looked at the title of this piece, saw the French title and thought, "there goes Paul again, recommending another French movie. Who wants to bet that this one's existential and deliberately paced, and full of observations and death and social class?" And the thing is, you'd more or less be right. But Les Revenants has something most of those movies don't have:

Zombies. Do I have your attention now?

Why I missed it: Actually, most people missed this movie. After playing at numerous festivals during 2004 and 2005 (including Cannes, Venice and Toronto), it never received a proper theatrical release on our shores. Eventually, it was unceremoniously released on DVD, and I wasn't even aware of its existence until my friend Jason, an unapologetic zombie movie nut, recommended it to me. Well Jason, when you're right, you right. And this time, you were right.

Why I should have known: Les Revenants was Robin Campillo's first effort as a director, but his other work was familiar to me, having co-written and edited numerous films by the talented filmmaker Laurent Cantet. Of particular note is his work on Time Out, which wouldn't seem to be similar to Les Revenants but showed Campillo skilled at mining existential unease, a skill that would serve him well in his directorial debut.

Why I ended up kicking myself: While Les Revenants is a movie about zombies, it's like no zombie movie I've ever seen. Even the zombies themselves are different, neither the lumbering flesh-eaters of classic zombie fare nor the running snarling beasties of more modern genre incarnations. In many ways, it's difficult to tell the "returnees" (as the film calls them from the humans who never died. Even the film's opening shot of thousands of returnees walking out of a cemetery looks like it could just as easily be showing mourners departing a funeral. Aside from a body temperature difference of roughly five degrees and some slowness in their mental processes, the returnees walk and talk like any other human. They fit in fairly well in society, with many of them returning to the workforce.

One of the subtexts of the zombie-movie genre is the idea that the zombies were once our loved ones, and Campillo's film makes this idea explicit. Some of the most fascinating scenes in the film show the different ways in which the living deal with the return of their dearly departed. Some of them are overcome with emotion, such as the parents whose child has returned to them, but others are more conflicted, like Rachel, played by Géraldine Palihas. Rachel's husband Mathieu died several years previously in a car accident, and it's fairly clear she's had a hard time getting over his death. After Mathieu returns, Rachel ignores the fact as long as he can until he finds her and works his way back into her life.

However, it becomes clear that the returnees aren't the same people they once were. Those of working age are given jobs, but while Mathieu returns to his former engineering firm, he can't function at his former level and is put to work in a factory. The returnees' difficulties with communication make a number of people uneasy, and by and large they're treated as second-class citizens. In addition, the returnees are a restless bunch, wandering in the daytime and leaving their houses by night to attend mysterious meetings. What could they be planning?

Campillo sort of answers that question in the final third of the film, although the returnees plans and motivations aren't particularly clear (escape? Sabotage? Recruitment?). Much more fascinating is the way the film's relationships play out near the end. The parents of the returned child disagree on how to treat him- while the father dotes on his son, his wife is growing increasingly freaked out by his behavior. And Rachel, who had been reluctant to welcome Mathieu back into her life, becomes increasingly devoted to him, often to the detriment of her own well-being.

Despite the zombie storyline, Les Revenants is not a gorefest. There are no violent deaths in the film, much less the bloody disembowelments we've grown to expect from the genre. Campillo's film is subtler than that, depending more on the subtle existential dread that comes from finding that someone you love isn't quite the way he used to be. With Les Revenants, Campillo has announced himself as a filmmaker to watch.