The 82nd Venice Movie Competition could also be over, however the conversations on the movies that premiered, the issues folks stated, the garments they wore, and the way it impacts the Oscar race are nonetheless going.
Right here’s a rundown of the massive moments and takeaways from this 12 months’s version.
What gained massive on the Venice Movie Competition?
Jim Jarmusch’s quiet movie “Father Mother Sister Brother” took the highest prize, the Golden Lion. It was a shock to many who anticipated that honor to go to “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which ended up with the runner up award, or “No Other Choice.”
Apart from Benny Safdie’s finest director win for “The Smashing Machine,” Hollywood gamers had been largely shut out of the awards in favor of a various, worldwide choice. Chinese language actor Xin Zhilei gained finest actress for Cai Shangjun’s “The Sun Rises on Us All,” Italian icon Toni Servillo gained finest actor for “La Grazia” and Swiss actor Luna Wedler took the up-and-comer prize, the Marcello Mastroianni Award, for “Silent Friend.”
Who could be an Oscars participant?
The awards didn’t give many hints, however Venice has been recognized to launch a number of finest actor campaigns together with Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker,”Brendan Fraser in “The Whale” and Adrien Brody in “The Brutalist.” This 12 months the obvious heavyweight to observe is Dwayne Johnson for his flip as MMA fighter Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine.”
Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons had been additionally unusual and fierce as kidnapped and kidnapper in Yorgos Lanthimos’s provocative “Bugonia.” Oscar Isaac portrayed Victor Frankenstein as a romantic madman and Jacob Elordi was naïve and uncooked because the monster. Amanda Seyfried put a human, feminist, face to the spiritual sect the shakers in “The Testament of Ann Lee,” and Julia Roberts flexed her performing muscle mass as a Yale philosophy professor within the midst of a misconduct accusation in opposition to a colleague in “After the Hunt.”
Filmmakers like Kathryn Bigelow and former Golden Lion winners Guillermo del Toro and Yorgos Lanthimos will even doubtless be within the dialog for months to come back.
Why was Seth Rogen in every single place?
There’s at all times some sudden Hollywood individual on the Venice Movie Competition who doesn’t appear to be related to anyone movie. Generally they’ve are available for amfAR, generally they’ve been invited by one of many pageant’s sponsors. However textual content chains began blowing up when Seth Rogen began popping up in every single place: Purple carpets, press conferences, events. Don’t be stunned if there’s a Venice episode of “The Studio” within the works: This journey was analysis, and perhaps even a little bit extra.
Julia Roberts and Amanda Seyfried’s sisterhood of the touring Versace?
In a cute, sudden (presumably extremely staged) second in the course of the pageant, Amanda Seyfried commented on Julia Roberts’ Instagram asking to “please let me wear the same outfit.” Three days later, Seyfried was additionally rocking the Versace blazer, denims, button up and belt, simply with completely different footwear. It helps that they share a stylist, Elizabeth Stewart.
There was a document standing ovation
First, let’s simply clarify that leisure commerce publications solely began monitoring Venice standing ovations lately. This 12 months, audiences on the premiere of “The Voice of Hind Rajab” applauded for 22-minutes, surpassing the 18-minute document set final 12 months by “The Room Next Door,” which went on to win the Golden Lion. Even with a restricted knowledge set, that’s a very long time to clap after a film.
Different standing ovation instances from the 82nd pageant: “After the Hunt” ((tilde)5 minutes), “Bugonia” ((tilde)6 minutes), “No Other Choice” ((tilde)7 minutes), “Jay Kelly” ((tilde)9 minutes), “The Wizard of the Kremlin” ((tilde)10 minutes), “A House of Dynamite” ((tilde)11 minutes), “Frankenstein” ((tilde)14 minutes), “The Testament of Ann Lee” ((tilde)quarter-hour), “The Smashing Machine” ((tilde)quarter-hour).
Politics and conflict on the massive display
The pageant won’t take political stances, however politics, and filmmakers grappling with the state of the world, from the Israel-Hamas battle to nuclear weapons, had been clearly prime of thoughts. Kathryn Bigelow set off a warning shot about nuclear weapons and the equipment of resolution making along with her pressing, and distressingly reasonable, thriller “A House of Dynamite.” Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania made a necessary doc of the human toll in Gaza with “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” And Olivier Assayas charted the rise of Vladimir Putin in “The Wizard of the Kremlin.”
Gaza additionally dominated conversations off display too, from a protest that drew an estimated 10,000 folks, to awards speeches.
Greatest quotes from the 2025 Venice Movie Competition
“The real monsters are the men in suits.” — Jacob Elordi, who performs Frankenstein’s monster in a giant funds Netflix movie.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have the career that I’ve had and make the films that I have, but there was just this voice inside of me, this little voice, like what if I can do more.” — Dwayne Johnson on his transformative, severe flip as MMA fighter Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine.”
“I consider pretty much all corporate money is dirty money.” — Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, when requested about Mubi’s relationship with Sequoia Capital.
“How is annihilating the world a good defensive measure? I mean, what are you defending?” — Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow on the nuclear stockpiles.
“Humanity is facing a reckoning very soon. People need to choose the right path, otherwise, I don’t know how much time we have.” — Filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos on the relevance of “Bugonia.”
“Everyone comes out with all these different feelings and emotions and points of views. And you realize what you believe in strongly and what your convictions are because we stir it all up for you. So, you’re welcome.” — Julia Roberts on the debates stirred by “After the Hunt.”
“It’s time at the end of your life to put the puzzle pieces together and make them fit.” — Kim Novak, 92, on receiving the pageant’s lifetime achievement award.
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For extra protection of the Venice Movie Competition, go to https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival.
