Venice 76 | Joker and J’Accuse win as festival revels in anarchy

It seemed a fitting 2019 thing to do. The divisive but widely praised Joker became the first comic book movie to pick up the coveted Golden Lion, the top prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The Todd Phillips movie stars Joaquin Phoenix in an origin story of Batman’s famous nemesis, but takes its inspiration from Martin Scorsese rather than Bob Kane. The controversy sparked has more to do with the perceived influence the film might have in providing an Incel role model. This kind of film criticism, however valid real world criticisms are, tend to simplify movies into one dimensional arguments. Joker – despite the violence and the origin – is a far more self-aware and critical film than is perhaps being allowed in this febrile climate.

The second big shock came with the awarding of the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize to Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy, a competent thrillerisation of the infamous Dreyfus case starring Jean Dujardin and Louis Garrel. With the Jury President Lucrezia Martel having let out some unfortunate remarks early on in the competition, there had even been the risk that Polanski would withdraw the film, but fortunately cooler heads prevailed and the film was shown. However, now a tug of war between the MeToo movement and those who are seeking to push back, the relative merits of the film (which are relatively modest) were lost in the dust. The award feels like another political restatement, rather than an assessment of the movie.

Acting awards went to Ariane Ascaride for her performance in Robert Guédiguian’s Gloria Mundi, a film which played like an episode of Eastenders, when the writers couldn’t be bothered.  Luca Marinelli won as the best male actor for the lead rolòe in Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden. Neither film was particularly brilliant, though the performances were certainly the best thing of both. Both also gave the best acceptance speeches. Marinelli dedicating his award to those who save people at sea and Ascaride paying sombre tribute – as an immigrant – to the dead at the bottom of the Mediterranean; both obvious rebukes to the politics of Matteo Salvini, Italy’s ex-Interior Minister.

Overall the festival competition was largely dominated by ho-hum titles like The Laundromat, An Officer and a Spy and Wasp Network. Netflix’s best picture The Marriage Story came and went. There were some discoveries – The Painted Bird was a personal though harrowing favourite. Roy Andersson also came away with an award for his charmingly odd About Endlessness, but following on from such a barnstorming edition last year, overall there was a feeling of an off year for the oldest film festival in the world.

The Venezia 76 Jury, chaired by Lucrecia Martel, and comprised of Stacy Martin, Mary
Harron, Piers Handling, Rodrigo Prieto, Shinya Tsukamoto, Paolo Virzì, having viewed
all 21 films in competition, has decided as follows:
GOLDEN LION for Best Film to:
JOKER
by Todd Phillips (USA)
SILVER LION – GRAND JURY PRIZE to:
J’ACCUSE
by Roman Polanski (France, Italy)
SILVER LION – AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR to:
Roy Andersson
for the film OM DET OÄNDLIGA (ABOUT ENDLESSNESS) (Sweden, Germany, Norway)
COPPA VOLPI
for Best Actress:
Ariane Ascaride
in the film GLORIA MUNDI by Robert Guédiguian (France, Italy)
COPPA VOLPI
for Best Actor:
Luca Marinelli
in the film MARTIN EDEN by Pietro Marcello (Italy, France)
AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to:
Yonfan
for the film JI YUAN TAI QI HAO (No.7 CHERRY LANE) by Yonfan (Hong Kong SAR,
China)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to:
LA MAFIA NON È PIÙ QUELLA DI UNA VOLTA
by Franco Maresco (Italy)
MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD
for Best Young Actor or Actress to:
Toby Wallace
in the film BABYTEETH by Shannon Murphy (Australia)
LION OF THE FUTURE –
“LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM
Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film Jury at the 76
th
Venice Film Festival, chaired by Emir Kusturica and comprised of Antonietta De Lillo,
Hend Sabry, Terence Nance and Michael Werner, has decided to award:
LION OF THE FUTURE
“LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM to:
YOU WILL DIE AT 20
by Amjad Abu Alala (Sudan, France, Egypt, Germany, Norway, Qatar)
GIORNATE DEGLI AUTORI
as well as a prize of 100,000 US dollars, donated by Filmauro, to be divided equally
between the director and the producer.
ORIZZONTI AWARDS
The Orizzonti Jury of the 76
th Venice International Film Festival, chaired by Susanna
Nicchiarelli and composed of Eva Sangiorgi, Álvaro Brechner, Mark Adams, Rachid
Bouchareb, after screening the 19 feature films and 13 short films in competition has
decided to award:
the ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST FILM to:
ATLANTIS
by Valentyn Vasyanovych (Ukraine)
the ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR to:
Théo Court
for the film BLANCO EN BLANCO (Spain, Chile, France, Germany)
the SPECIAL ORIZZONTI JURY PRIZE to:
VERDICT
by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez (Filippine)
the ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS to:
Marta Nieto
in the film MADRE by Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Spain, France)
the ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR to:
Sami Bouajila
in the film BIK ENEICH – UN FILS by Mehdi M. Barsaoui (Tunisia, France, Lebanon,
Qatar)
the ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to:
Jessica Palud, Philippe Lioret, Diastème
for the film REVENIR by Jessica Palud (France)
the ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM to:
DARLING
by Saim Sadiq (Pakistan, USA)
the VENICE SHORT FILM NOMINATION FOR THE
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2019 to:
CÃES QUE LADRAM AOS PÁSSAROS (DOGS BARKING AT BIRDS)
by Leonor Teles (Portugal)
VENICE CLASSICS AWARDS
The Venice Classics Jury, chaired by Costanza Quatriglio and composed of 22 cinema
history students – nominated by their professors – from Italian universities, DAMS
performing arts courses, and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, has decided to award:
the VENICE CLASSICS AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY ON CINEMA to:
BABENCO – ALGUÉM TEM QUE OUVIR O CORAÇÃO E DIZER: PAROU (BABENCO
– TELL ME WHEN I DIE)
by Bárbara Paz (Brazil)
the VENICE CLASSICS AWARD FOR BEST RESTORED FILM to:
EXTASE (ECSTASY)
by Gustav Machatý (Czechoslovakia, 1932)