Hello Film Experience fans. I’ve been a reader myself for many years and i am happy that this year i have the chance to cover the festival for Nathaniel and for the Greek site Cinema News. English is not my native language but I hope you'll enjoy my coverage. 

DAY 1: Venice at this time of the year is at its finest and busiest. The festival is of course the main attraction but there are many unaware tourists that are wondering what all these people with the badges around their necks are here for.  The event of the day was the opening ceremony of the Festival with the premiere of George Clooney’s The Ides of March. Even though The Ides of March is a political film the atmosphere at the press conference was not heavy at all. Most of the questions were aimed at George Clooney who once more ‘played’ the room as he answered questions with wit and humor. What else could he do when the questions varied from "Is this movie a comment about Dominique Strauss Kahn?" to "Have you ever thought of running for president?". He also joked about the amount of research he did for his character in Ocean’s 11 -- "I spent years researching for this role in Las Vegas" -- and he joked that the right side of the movie's poster was better looking than the left.  

He also said that Gosling was his first choice for the role and that the production of the film was postponed because after Barack Obama’s win everybody was very hopeful about the future of polictics in the U.S. and the timing wasn’t right for it. 

Of Day One's three other press conferences, the most compelling was the Jury of the Competition Section. This year's president Darren Aronofsky and his jury members were here to discuss how they will pick their winners. Todd Haynes got the most interesting question when asked how partial he could be in judging Kate Winslet’s performance in Carnage so soon after working with her in Mildred Pierce (which is also showing at the festival).

He answered politely and predictably and persuaded nobody. 

I am happy to say that The Ides of March is a very good film, directed with passion and care for detail. However it's the kind of film that everyone likes and respects but nobody is really passionate about. Ryan Gosling is excellent in the lead role and has the audience on his side even when he makes the wrong decisions; he could very well be nominated. One of the difficult things to judge is whether the supporting players will feature in the Oscar race. I would say that Clooney has the best chance in the Supporting Actor category, as he portrays a charismatic character (not an acting stretch, I know) that has faults and is vulnerable. Paul Giamatti and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are marvelous actors but they don’t do anything we haven’t seen them do before. (Giamatti and Marisa Tomei are in very little of the movie.) Evan Rachel Wood on the other hand has an important role and a lot of screen time and has a good shot at a nomination. If I had to pick the surest nomination that would be in the Adapted Screenplay category since the dialogue is excellent and the the scipt (Written by Clooney and his creative partner Grant Henslov) is the strongest element of the movie.

DAY 2: Madonna came to Lido (although Harvey Weinstein didn’t) to support her new film and brought what was without a doubt the best looking panel of the festival. Along side her were actors Abbie Cornish, Andrea Riseborough, James D’Arcy, Oscar Isaac and Natalie Dormer. As expected the questions centered around Madonna and there were even comparisons between the character King Edward VIII and the Queen of Pop. "Would you ever leave your throne for a man… or a woman?" asked a reporter and her answer "I think I can have both... or all three!"

Madonna also thanked both of her ex-husbands Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie "two wonderful directors" who encouraged her to become a director.  

CARNAGE
Roman Polanski is not present in Venice (I doubt he will ever leave Switzerland) but his film Carnage is. Playwright Yasmina Reza, composer Alexandre Desplat and three members of the cast (Winslet, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz) attended the press conference. As expected everyone praised Polanski and said how delighted they were to work with him. Winslet declined to answer a question concerning the recent incident with the fire at Richard Branson’s private island but answered all the questions concerning the vomit scene of the film, even what it tasted like. She also gave credit to Hope Davis who originated the role on Broadway.

The film Carnage is based on Yasmina Reza’s play "God of Carnage" and the four main roles have previously been played by actors as marvelous as  Ralph Fiennes, Janet McTeer, Marcia Gay Harden, Dylan Baker, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gardolfini and even Lucy Liu. Reza’s play is no masterpiece, but is definitely an acting showcase. The most successful of the new bunch was Christoph Waltz who got the biggest laughs. Not far behind came Kate Winslet who excels at the comedy of the piece and is truly magnetic. John C. Reilly is also good but for me the ideal actor for this role was James Gandolfini. The weak link is Jodie Foster, who seems to not have fully realised that this is a comedy. She plays her character’s breakdown as she would in a drama. She isn't bad but one can’t help but wonder how much better this film would be if all four members of the acting quartet were in top form. But it's a fine refined comedy featuring three excellent performances. For 73 minutes (the film takes place in real time) the audience watches every minute of the one couples’ visit (Winslet & Waltz) to the house of the other (Foster & Reilly) and witnesses the whole arc of emotions. Special mention must be given to Desplat’s theme, which is only featured in the opening and closing shots, but manages within a few minutes to make a passage from the stress of city life to the tunes of war, resembling the characters’ journey.   

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