Venice International Film Festival 2024: Films, Stars, Timeless Glamour

Pablo Larraín, the Chilean auteur, premiered his first English-language film, Jackie, at the 2016 Venice Film Festival. At the tender age of 40 he had already garnered widespread recognition at the elite film festivals, one of those being his impassioned picture, Post Mortem, at Venice in 2010. He served on the jury for the 70th edition and, as a highly respected filmmaker, his deep-seated and prismatic exploration of entrenched state figures would have unlocked layers of Venice's mystery, which ultimately could only fuel the idea to use “The Floating City” as a source for future films.

Last night, the second day of the 81st Venice Film Festival, saw the premiere of Maria, which is not only Larraín’s third picture trailing the anguish suffered in connection to consorts by the most photographed women ever, it directly incorporated a story playing out. Angelina Jolie, who plays the soprano goddess Maria Callas in the film, is currently undergoing a turbulent divorce from Brad Pitt. Jolie docked at Hotel Excelsior to promote Maria, while Pitt is also expected to attend the festival. He is promoting the action comedy film Wolfs, which he produced alongside George Clooney. However, festival’s Artistic Director according to the, Albert Barbara, their schedules will prevent them from crossing paths on the Lido. 

The “Golden Greek", Aristotle Onassis, was widely recognised for possessing the largest fleet of supertankers. However, in more convivial circles it was Christina O, his superyacht named after his daughter, that hosted the most wealthy and glamorous women of the 20th century. Before a scheduled visit by Jacqueline Kennedy to Greece, President John F. Kennedy summoned his top Secret Service agent Clint Hill to the Oval Office and ordered him to ‘not let Mrs. Kennedy cross paths with Aristotle Onassis’. Distinguished by his Onoa-framed sunglasses made by Francoise Pinton, Onassis’s dress emanated the air of the arbiters of the silver screen and, like many of them, he had an insatiable appetite for rich and famous women. He would be pictured dancing with Gina Lollobrigida at a costume party at the festival and having lunch with Maria Callas on the Lido, while she was married. 

The Jackie biographical drama, brilliantly played by Natalie Portman, focused on the First Lady in the White House shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, so didn't delve into her marriage with Onassis. It so happened that Jackie and Callas were both born in New York although, remarkably, it is thought they never encountered each other - not least because they each spent portions of their lives in Paris and Greece and in the social haut monde - but for Callas, Jackie was her nemesis in her life with Onassis. Jolie portrays her sad and reclusive existence in Paris before her death, and while Onassis will likely be a major part of this forlorn image, it's possible he won't make a significant appearance.

In addition to Maria jostling for the coveted Golden Lion which is handed out by head of the jury Isabelle Huppert, there’s a few standout competitors:

The Room Next door

The iconic Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is the architect of an illustrious list of indelible stories, and at the 76th Venice Film Festival he was honoured with the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement award, yet even in 2019 he didn’t have an English-language film to his name. The following year The Human Voice, starring Tilda Swinton, was his first foray into shooting in English, albeit a short film, so it was still feared by cinephiles they would never witness a full-length English-language picture. But the wait is over - The Room Next Door, encompassing that extra gravity will premiere on September 2. The story centres on Martha (Tilda Swinton) and Ingrid (Julianne Moore), who were close friends in their youth. Martha become a war reporter and Ingrid a novelist, and they reconnect in peculiar circumstances. It transpires they have starkly different outlooks on narrative about death, friends and the horrors of war. The studio added that the film “evokes the sweet awakening with the chirping of birds, in a house built in the middle of a nature reserve in New England, where the two friends live in an extreme and strangely sweet situation”. In signature Almodóvar, expect a vintage aesthetic in both clothing and interior, and after the trailer not revealing too much detail, the picture is destined to induce plenty of talking points in the morning, whilst taking coffee with film companions at the historic Caffè Florian on San Marco the following morning. 

Queer

The world’s oldest festival, Venice, has arguably been dealt the most powerful obstacles to overcome and, somehow, their innate resilience continues. Albert Barbara, in his second tenure as Artistic Director, is responsible for enticing the Hollywood studios back to Venice. The result is that out of the past 10 best picture winners at the Oscars, four have premiered on the lagoon. Admittedly, Queer is directed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, and we’re hearing on the news wire it has been bought by A24, an American independent entertainment company operating in a small office in New York, and so Queer is largely detached from Hollywood. However, Venice is once again making waves as a platform for Oscar recognition. Five-time 007 Daniel Craig, who excels brilliantly as William Lee in yet another dramatic film, has been cast as an American expat pursuing a younger man in 1940s Mexico City, and he is being considered for that elusive Oscar. Queer is based on William S. Burrough’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Published in 1984, it quickly became a classic of both the Beat and gay literature genres. “Queer is a labour of love, and we could not be more excited that our film has found a home with a studio as daring, vital, and trailblazing as A24”, Craig and Guadagnino said in a joint statement. And to incorporate that Central American romance from the mid-century, the revered costume designer Jonathan Anderson has been given the task.

The Brutalist

Brady Corbet directs this picture, which stars Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, and Joe Alwyn. Even on its way to the festival, the highly technical production was forcing Corbet to delve deep into his thinking reserves. This is due to the 215-minute narrative, which chronicles the life of László Tóth, a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who survived the Holocaust and is forging a new life in America, being shown in 70mm, which means that all 26 reels of film, weighing in at approximately 300 pounds, will need to travel in four Pelican cases from Los Angeles to Italy. The film is already garnering highly impressive acclaim from critics, and it is thought the picture will act as a break out moment for Corbet.