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Pedro Almod\u00f3var\u2019s English-language debut \u201cThe Room Next Door,\u201d with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, won the Venice Film Festival\u2019s Golden Lion award Saturday.<\/p>\n
Nicole Kidman was awarded the best actress prize, for her r aw and exposing portrayal of a CEO embroiled in an affair with an intern in \u201cBabygirl,\u201d but missed the ceremony due to the death of her mother.<\/p>\n
The 81st edition of the festival came to a close Saturday, with the Isabelle Huppert-led jury bestowing top prizes to Brady Corbet, for directing the 215-minute post-war epic \u201cThe Brutalist\u201d and Vincent Lindon, for his lead performance in \u201cThe Quiet Son.\u201d Lindon plays a single father whose son is radicalized by the far right.<\/p>\n
Maura Delpero\u2019s \u201cVermiglio\u201d won the Silver Lion award. The Italian-French-Belgian drama is about the last year of World War II, in which a refugee soldier happens upon a large family.<\/p>\n
The Venice Film Festival used its closing film slot to host the world premiere of Kevin Costner\u2019s \u201cHorizon: An American Saga \u2014 Chapter 2.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no real consensus pick for the top prize going into the evening, and eyes were focused on what the Isabelle Huppert-led jury would bestow prizes upon this year. Many of the 21 titles playing in competition have been divisive, with passionate supporters and detractors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have good news for you,\u201d Huppert said at the ceremony. \u201cCinema is in great shape.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the highest profile of the films of the festival inlcuded: Todd Phillips\u2019 \u201cJoker: Folie \u00e0 Deux,\u201d the not-a-musical-musical with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga ; Pablo Larra\u00edn\u2019s Maria Callas film \u201cMaria,\u201d starring Angelina Jolie as the famed soprano; the erotic thriller \u201cBabygirl\u201d in which Kidman gets entangled in a complicated affair with an intern, played by Harris Dickinson; Luca Guadagnino\u2019s William S. Burroughs adaptation \u201cQueer,\u201d with Daniel Craig as a junkie expat obsessed with a young student; and Brady Corbet\u2019s 215-minute post-war epic about an architect and a Holocaust survivor rebuilding a life in America, \u201cThe Brutalist,\u201d starring Adrien Brody,<\/p>\n
Five years ago, the Venice jury surprised the film world by giving the Golden Lion to \u201cJoker,\u201d which went on to win a best actor Oscar for Phoenix. Last year the top award went to \u201cPoor Things\u201d and the year before, the documentary \u201cAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Luigi De Laurentiis award for a debut film went to Sarah Friedland\u2019s \u201cFamiliar Touch,\u201d about an octogenarian\u2019s transition to life in assisted living as she grapples with her age, her memory and her relationship to her caregivers. Friedland also won the director prize in the horizons section and her star, Kathleen Chalfant, won the actress prize.<\/p>\n
Though always a player in the international festival scene, Venice has cemented its reputation as a major launching pad for awards campaigns over the past 12 years. Since 2014, they\u2019ve hosted four best picture winners (\u201cBirdman,\u201d \u201cSpotlight,\u201d \u201cThe Shape of Water\u201d and \u201cNomadland\u201d) and 19 nominees. And buzz is already swirling about possible best actress nominations for Kidman and Jolie, actor for Craig and supporting actress for Gaga, as the fall film season kicks into full gear.<\/p>\n
The festival this year marked a return to form with true A-listers back on the Lido to celebrate films both in and out of competition after last year\u2019s strike addled outing. In addition to the names above, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Sigourney Weaver were all lending their star power to the event.<\/p>\n
And many rose to the occasion with their fashion. Gaga\u2019s Christian Dior gown paired with a vintage lace Philip Treacy headpiece made for a major red-carpet moment. As was Kidman\u2019s body hugging Schiaparelli, Blanchett\u2019s Armani Priv\u00e9 with strands of pearls cascading down her back, and Jolie with her fur stole. Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig also played the power couple, with her in a glittery blue Versace gown and him in a cream Loewe suit. The \u201cBeetlejuice Beetlejuice\u201d cast did also did a spin on the movie\u2019s aesthetic with their wares.<\/p>\n