by Nathaniel R
Cate Blanchett in TÁR
Most sites just give you a list of film titles but we always aim to provide you with more information which is one of the (several) reasons we're slower with the news! Over 50% of the competition titles at Venice this year come from just three countries: France, Italy, and the US and a lot of titles are connected to Netflix. Outside of those countries we get one film from Asia, one from the Middle East, two from South America, and two from UK/Ireland. If you include the Out of Competition titles there's more variety with Canada, Denmark, Ukraine, The Phillipines, and Estonia entering the chat.
After the jump a little bit about each of the 22 films competing for the Golden Lion, and a few of the Out of Competition films including the new Lars Von Trier. Plus that bewitching teaser to Tár, Todd Field's first film in 16 years...
COMPETITION FILMS
Lord of the Ants / Il Signore Delle Formiche, dir. Gianni Amelio 🇮🇹
Set in 1960s Italy, a playwright is jailed for homosexuality while his partner is forced to undergo electroschock conversion therapy. Italian movie star Elio Germano, who has previously won Best Actor at both Berlinale and Cannes, and Luigi Lo Cascio star. No US Distribution Yet
The Whale, dir. Darren Aronofsky 🇺🇸
For his 8th feature and first since mother! (2017), Aronofsky takes on the acclaimed play by Samuel D Hunter about an obese home-bound man (Brendan Fraser) and his troubled relationship with his daughter (Sadie Sink). A2 will release in the US, no date yet announced.
L’Immensità, dir. Emanuel Crialese 🇮🇹
A drama about a mother (Penélope Cruz) and her children in 1970s Rome. We get to hear Cruz speak Italian rather than the Spanish or English we're accustomed to her speaking in her movies. No US Distribution Yet, but given Cruz's starpower...
Saint Omer, dir. Alice Diop 🇫🇷
Diop's narrative debut after a few documentary features, is about a woman trying to write a modern adaptation of Medea. No US Distribution Yet.
Blonde, dir. Andrew Dominik 🇺🇸
Ana de Armas stars in this fictional biography about a Marilyn-like star based on the famous novel by Joyce Carol Oates. At two hours and forty-six minutes long, it's the longest film in competition this year... unless Bardo proves to be really long (Bardo is the only competition film without an announcement running time). Begins streaming on Netflix on September 23rd.
White Noise, dir. Noah Baumbach 🇺🇸
OPENING NIGHT FILM. For his follow up to Marriage Story, Baumbach adapts the novel by Don DeLillo about a professor of Hitler studies (Adam Driver), his eccentric wife (Greta Gerwig), and their children. Announced as the opening film the festival says:
“Baumbach has made an original, ambitious and compelling piece of art which plays with measure on multiple registers: dramatic, ironic, satirical. The result is a film that examines our obsessions, doubts, and fears as captured in the 1980’s, yet with very clear references to contemporary reality.”
We've also been predicting that one for Oscar nominations since April even though it feels like a risky pick.
Tar, dir. Todd Field 🇺🇸
Cate Blanchett headlines this film about a (fictional) world reknowned conductor. This is Field's first movie in 16 years after coming on strong with his debut In the Bedroom and the follow up Little Children. Is he independently wealthy? We always wonder what filmmakers /actors are doing when they disappear for over a decade. Opens in the US on October 7th from Focus Features
Love Life, dir. Koji Fukada 🇯🇵
So new it doesn't even have an IMDb page yet. Fukada's Harmonium (2016) won Un Certain Regard in its Cannes year. No US Distribution Yet
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu 🇲🇽
The great Spanish actor Daniel Giménez Cacho (Blancanieves, Zama, and Y Tu Mama Tambien's narrator) stars as a journalist and documentarian working through an existential crisis in Mexico. Expect Oscar nominations since Academy voters haven't ignored a single Iñárritu effort in the past 22 years, including his Spanish-language films and his VR experiments. In short, they worship him. Streaming on Netflix, TBA.
Athena, dir. Romain Gavras 🇫🇷
Three siblings's lives are thrown into chaos after their youngest brother's tragic death. Gavras' best known film in the US is surely the crime comedy The World is Yours (2018). Streaming on Netflix, TBA.
Bones and All, dir. Luca Guadagnino 🇺🇸
Italian auteur Guadagnino (I Am Love, Suspiria, Call Me By Your Name) always has so many projects brewing that it's a miracle he finishes so many of them! This horror drama stars Taylor Russell (Waves) 'learning to survive on the margins of society'. Guadagnino alums Timothée Chalamet, Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Harper, and Michael Stuhlbarg are also in the cast. Opens in the US on November 24th from MGM/UA.
The Eternal Daughter, dir. Joanna Hogg 🇬🇧
A ghost story about a woman and her elderly mother returning to their former manor house which has become a vacant hotel. This is Tilda Swinton's 3rd Hogg film but the first time in the lead. A24 is the US Distributor, no date yet announced
Beyond the Wall, dir. Vahid Jalilvand 🇮🇷
A drama about a blind man and a woman who wanders into his life. Navid Mohammadzadeh (No Date No Signature) stars. No US Distribution Yet
The Banshees of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh 🇮🇪
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson reunite with their In Bruges director for this tale of a friendship gone sour. Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan are also in the cast. Opens in the US on October 13th from Searchlight Pictures.
Argentina 1985, dir. Santiago Mitre 🇦🇷
Ricardo Darín (who else?!) stars in this legal drama about lawyers taking on the Argentinian military in the 1980s. Mitre came to fame first as a screenwriter (Carancho, Leonera) and then as a director with his award-winning debut (The Student, 2011). No US Distribution yet
Chiara, dir. Susanna Nicchiarelli 🇮🇹
This is a biopic about St Clare of Assissi. Nicchiarelli has had critical successes (Nico 1988, Miss Marx) but it seems like she's still waiting for that international breakthrough. Could this be the one? No US Distribution yet
Monica, dir. Andrea Pallaoro 🇺🇸🇮🇹
Trans actress Trace Lysette (Transparent) has the titular role. Emily Browning and Oscar nominees Patty Clarkson and Adriana Barraza co-star in this film about a woman who returns home to care for her ailing mother. No US Distribution yet
No Bears, dir. Jafar Panahi 🇮🇷
All eyes will be on this one given Panahi's recent ridiculous incarceration. This one is described as being a drama about "two parallel love stories". No US Distribution yet
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, dir. Laura Poitras 🇺🇸
This one is new enough that there's no IMDb page yet. Poitras is an Oscar winner for the documentary Citizenfour (2014). Not much info available yet
A Couple, dir. Frederick Wiseman 🇺🇸
Though Wiseman usually makes epic length documentaries his latest is just an hour long, and the shortest film in this competition. He is 92 years old and still making docs every year! Not much info available yet.
The Son, dir. Florian Zeller 🇬🇧
Zeller adapts another of his trilogy of plays following the success of The Father (2020). Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern star in this drama about a divorced couple with a troubled teenage son. If it's half as good as The Father, expect Oscar nominations. Sony Pictures Classic will released in the US. No date yet announced.
Les Miens / Our Ties, dir. Roschdy Zem 🇫🇷
The cast includes Sami Bouajilia, Maîwenn, Rachid Bouchareb, and the director himself. It's due to open in France at the end of November. No US Distributor Yet.
Virginia Efira needs to be a bigger international star. She's always mesmerizing
Other People’s Children, dir. Rebecca Zlotowski 🇫🇷
A dramedy about a childless teacher (Virginie Efira) who wants to meet her boyfriend's little daughter (you can see the trailer at Deadline). A curious fun trivia thing about this movie is that it's up against movies by Roschdy Zem and Frederik Wiseman in this competition and both of those directors appear as actors in this movie! No US Distributor Yet.
OUT OF COMPETITION - FICTION
The Hanging Sun, dir. Francesco Carrozzini 🇮🇹🇬🇧
A crime drama about a hitman on the run. Allesandro Borghi, Peter Mullan, Jessica Brown Findlay, and Charles Dance are in the cast. No US Distributor Yet.
When the Waves Are Gone, dir. Lav Diaz 🇵🇭
This is short for Lav Diaz. The crime drama about an investigator at a moral crossroads when he sees what his country and its president in their 'war on drugs' is only 3 hours and seven minutes long. John Lloyd Cruz and Ronnie Lazaro star. No US Distributor Yet.
Living, dir. Oliver Hermanus 🇬🇧
We reviewed this one at Sundance. Bill Nighy stars. Sony Pictures Classics will release in the US
Dead for a Dollar, dir. Walter Hill 🇨🇦🇺🇸
A western about a bounty hunter and a professional gambler. Willem Dafoe, Christoph Waltz, Rachel Brosnahan, and Hamish Linklater star.
Call of God, dir. Kim Ki-duk
Here's an unexpected title. The Golden Lion winning Korean auteur Kim Ki-Duk (3 Iron, Spring Summer Fall Winter and Spring) had in recent years had his reputation damaged given multiple accusations of rape and sexual harassment, and then he died from COVID-19 in Latvia while making this very film in neighboring Estonia. Had he finished shooting before his death? If not who completed it? We have no idea what to expect since there is no IMDb listing, South Korea is not one of the countries involved, and leading the cast are a TV actress Zhanel Sergazina (we're not sure what country she is from but she only has one credit, a Russian/Kazahk series) and a Kyrgyz actor named Abylai Maratov who also has just one credit, a short film. Given the title perhaps this is a later incarnation of a project announced in 2016 which was supposed to be a Chinese anti-war film but which was never made. No US Distributor Yet.
Dreamin’ Wild, dir. Bill Pohlad 🇺🇸
A 1970s set biopic about the musical duo Donnie Emerson (Casey Affleck) and Joe Emerson (Walton Goggins). Focus Features TBA
Master Gardener, dir. Paul Schrader 🇺🇸
A thriller about a horticulturist (Joel Edgerton) and a wealthy dowager (Sigourney Weaver). No US Distributor Yet
Siccità / Drought, dir. Paolo Virzi 🇮🇹
In this comedy it hasn't rained for 3 years in Rome. The cast includes Claudia Pandolfi, Valerio Mastrandrea, Monica Bellucci, Sara Lazzaro, Edoardo Purgatori, and many more. No US Distributor Yet.
Pearl, dir. Ti West 🇺🇸
Mia Goth stars in this horror film. A24 TBA
Don’t Worry Darling, dir. Olivia Wilde 🇺🇸
Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, and Harry Styles star in this clearly Stepford Wives influenced thriller about a 1950s housewife and a Utopian community harboring horrible secrets. The trailer has been available for awhile now. Opens in US Theaters on September 23rd from Warner Bros.
OUT OF COMPETITION — DOCUMENTARIES
Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, dir. Evgeny Afineevsky 🇺🇦
The Matchmaker, dir. Benedetta Argentieri 🇮🇹
Gli Ultimi Giorni Dell’Umanita, dirs, Enrico Ghezzi, Alessandro Gagliardo 🇮🇹
A Compassionate Spy, dir. Steve James 🇺🇸
Music for Black Pigeons, dirs, Jorgen Leth, Andreas Koefoed 🇩🇰
The Kiev Trial, dir. Sergei Loznitsa 🇺🇦
In Viaggio, dir. Gianfranco Rosi 🇮🇹
Bobi Wine Ghetto President, dirs, Christopher Sharp, Moses Bwayo 🇺🇸
Nuclear, dir. Oliver Stone 🇺🇸
OUT OF COMPETITION - TV
THE KINGDOM EXODUS - First Footage from TrustNordisk on Vimeo.
The Kingdom Exodus, dir. Lars von Trier 🇩🇰
This is a third season of von Trier's long shuttered mid '90s haunted hospital series "The Kingdom". Aside from Solbjørg Højfeldt, Peter Mygind, and Henning Jensen (returning), the cast appears to be mostly new but many are von Trier alums like Udo Kier (Melancholia), Nikolaj Lie Kaas (The Idiots), Jens Albinus (The Boss of it All), Nicolas Bro and Laura Christensen (Nymphomaniac). No US Distributor Yet.
Copenhagen Cowboy, dir. Nicolas Winding Refn 🇩🇰
Refn (Drive, Neon Demon) has made a Danish-language series about Copenhagen's criminal underground with Angela Bundalovic (The Rain) leading the cast. Netflix TBA