Sunday, September 11, 2011

"Faust" and "Fassbender" Lead Winners at 68th Venice Film Festival


Golden Lion for Best Film - Faust by Alexander Sukurov (Russia)

Silver Lion for Best Director - Shangjun CAI for the film Ren Shan Ren Hai [People Mountain People Sea] (China - Hong Kong)

Special Jury Prize - Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese (Italy)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actor - Michael Fassbender in the film Shame by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actress - Deanie Yip in the film Tao Jie [A Simple Life] by Ann Hui (China - Hong Kong)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Actor or Actress - Shota Sometani and Fumi Nikaido in the film Himizu by Sion Sono (Japan)

Osella for Best Cinematography - Robbie Ryan for the film Wuthering Heights by Andrea Arnold (United Kingdom)

Osella for Best Screenplay - Yorgas Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for the film Alpis [Alps] by Yorgos Lanthimos (Grecia)

Faust was the surprise winner of the top prize beating with Sukorov beating out Roman Polanski (Carnage) George Clooney (The Ides of March), Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy) and Steve McQueen, whose hotly received film, Shame, was thought by many to be the one the jury, which was led by director Darren Aronofsky and musician David Byrne, would select.


Faust is a loose adaptation of the Goethe tragedy. It's the fourth in a series of movies on the themes of political power that earlier portrayed Hitler, Lenin and Japan's late Emperor Hirohito. China's Shangjun Cai took the best-director trophy got Ren Shan Ren Hai, the story of a man who returns to his mountain village to avenge his brother's killing. Another Chinese movie, A Simple Life, by Ann Hui - about a kousekeeper who retires to an old people's home after decades serving one family - was awarded the Best Actress award to Deannie Yip. Shame, Steve McQueen's explicit movie about a solitary sex addict on the rampage in New York, saw Michael Fassbender collect the Best Actor Trophy. What are your thoughts on these decisions?

8 comments:

  1. I need to catch up with Sokurov's work, I've only seen his Russian Ark.

    Really looking forward to watching Shame now that I finally watched Hunger.

    Also, it's funny how much thevoid99 really hates Madonna.

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  2. Well, not really. I liked her music from the 80s and 90s. I thought a few of the films she did was OK.

    It's just that I'm so annoyed by her based on the fact that she seems to be better than everyone and wants to prove herself as something much bigger than she already is. She was once a trendsetter and now, she wants to do what everyone else does and out do them. She is just someone who wore out her welcome for many years and has become such a fake with that awful British accent and trying to be relevant to the youth of the word.

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  3. Mmmmm, Michael Fassbender. My celebrity crush of 2011...

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  4. @ Steven - Yeah, I was surprised too. I guess I have pretty high expectations for The Ides of March and Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy. Carnage had some strong feedback, though A Dangerous Method didn't receive the warmest reception. I'm glad to hear such praise for Shame - I actually expected to wake up this morning and discover it had won. I have no intention of seeing W.E haha.

    @ Bonjour - I have only seen Russian Ark too. This is the motivation I needed to check out his other work. I loved Hunger (and your review was great), and I am super excited to see Shame. Fassbender has been killing it this year, and this might be the role that secures him the recognition. It also has Carey Mulligan. Mmmm.

    @ Em - You might be interested to know that Fassbender plays a sex addict in Shame, and it stars Carey Mulligan too. Plenty of reasons to see this one. Also, Steve McQueen's debut film was AWESOME!

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  5. Yeah it seems like there is a contract somewhere that says every movie released this year has to have either him or Jessica Chastain in it.

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  6. Niether has disappointed me this year, so far. Jessica Chastain made it 3/3 with another great performance in The Help, but I think she will get recognised for Take Shelter. Shame looks to be Fassbender's main play.

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  7. I'm getting excited for this year's batch of prestige pictures. Thanks for the updates.

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  8. Yeah, me too! This has been the first year I have had the time to be completely invested in the festivals and take an interest in what's to come.

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