As 69 times before, also this year the red carpet has been rolled out, the terraces overlooking the Adriatic set up and the golden lions polished, for yet another Mostra del Cinema in Venice. During the last days of August, the oldest film festival in the world has welcomed actors, directors, filmmakers, journalists and its public for the 70th time around. In fact, through the years Lido has seen personalities like Federico Fellini, Kirk Douglas, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Michelangelo Antonioni, Wim Wenders, Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford or Alberto Sordi stroll down its streets and stir excitement among its public. But, even though some exciting new features were presented this year and a handful of new stars have honored the city with their presence, it seems that the glory of the festival still survives thanks to its brilliant past and, possibly, the dreamy city that hosts it.
To prove that it still has what it takes, this year’s edition of the festival opened with Alonso Cuaròn’s Gravity. Starring the always charming George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, the movie is set in space, which required 4 and a half years of groundbreaking technology-aided work, and aims at becoming one of those titles we might hear at next year’s Oscars. On the other hand, the official competition includes some promising and a few less-promising features hoping to be awarded with the Golden Lion tomorrow, among which James Franco’s Child of God, Peter Landesman’s Parkland, Gianfranco Rossi’s Sacro GRA or nearly-booed Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin. Among other sections, Orizzonti stands out with its dedication to ‘the new tendencies of international cinematography’, offering the possibility to see those features that probably won’t be granted large distribution, while Out of competition section includes exceptional movies like Moebius by Kim Ki-Duk or Locke by Steven Knight.
Even though Venice certainly still detains some of its old charm, as the end of this year’s edition approaches, the director of the festival should ponder if instead of boosting the number of seating in Palazzo del Cinema, he should instead boost the quality of the festival’s selection.
