2023-09-09 20:49:31
With the incredible tale of a battle for equality and empowerment, described through the fantastic transformation of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by a brilliant and unorthodox scientist, the British film ‘Poor Things’ by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos won the Golden Lion for Best Film in the main competition of the 2023 Venice Film Festival.
This is the verdict of the Venice 80 Jury, chaired by the Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle and composed of Saleh Bakri, Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Gabriele Mainetti, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Mitre, Laura Poitras and Shu Qi, after having viewed the 23 films in competition.
If the highest podium was won by Lanthimos’ horror film with socio-political undertones, the other prestigious awards at the Venice Biennale also go in the direction of rewarding the commitment.
Thus the Japanese film ‘Aku wa sonzai shinai (Evil does not exist)’ (i.e. ‘Evil does not exist’) by Ryusuke Hamaguchi won the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize with a story that sends a message about danger to put the ecological balance of the environment at risk. And Italy celebrates with Matteo Garrone who, with the film ‘Io Capitano’ on the odyssey of two migrants who leave Dakar to reach Europe, won the Silver Lion for best direction. Garrone’s film also earned the Marcello Mastroianni Award (dedicated to a young emerging actor) to Seydou Sarr, a young Senegalese protagonist. The film ‘Zielona Granica (Green Border)’ by Polish director Agnieszka Holland, on the same theme of migration but set on the border between Poland and Belarus, was awarded the Special Jury Prize.
The Volpi Cup for best female performance went to American actress and singer Cailee Spaeny for the film ‘Priscilla’ by Sofia Coppola. While the Volpi Cup for best male performance was awarded to the American actor Peter Sarsgaard, protagonist of the film ‘Memory’ by Michel Franco.
The Award for Best Screenplay in the main competition went to Pablo Larraìn and Guillermo Caldòn for the Chilean film ‘El Conde’ directed by Larraìn himself, who returns to reflect on the dictator Pinochet by transforming him into a vampire.
In the Orizzonti section, where the Hungarian ‘Magyarázat mindenre (Explanation for everything) by Gábor Reisz was established as best film, awarded by the jury chaired by Jonas Carpignano (and composed of Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé and Tricia Truttle) many other satisfactions for Italian films: ‘Una sterminata Domenica’ by the director of Ardea (Rome) Alain Parroni received the Special Prize of the Orizzonti Jury; the Colombian actress, singer and TV presenter Margarita Rosa De Francisco was awarded the Award for best female performance in the Orizzonti section for the film ‘El Paraíso’ by Roman director Enrico Maria Artale, who also won the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay; Micaela Ramazzotti’s directorial debut with ‘Felicità’, shown in the Orizzonti Extra section of the Venice Film Festival, received the Spectator Award – Armani Beauty.
Finally, the Lion of the Future – Venice First Film Award “Luigi De Laurentiis” went to the film, presented in the International Critics’ Week, ‘Ai shi yi ba qiang (love is a gun)’ by Lee Hong-Chi, a co-production between Hong Kong, China and Chinese Taipei.
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