Almodovar wins Venice’s top prize for film about end of life

Published on: 08/09/2024 – 01:22Altered: 08/09/2024 – 01:20

4 minutes

The film about the end of a woman’s life, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, was Almodóvar’s first English-language feature film.

In the film — which, like many of Almodóvar’s, centers on strong female characters — Swinton plays a war correspondent battling terminal cancer who asks her girlfriend, played by Moore, to be with her as she commits suicide.

“I believe it is a fundamental right of every human being to leave this world in a clean and dignified way,” Almodovar told the audience after accepting his award. “It is not a political problem, it is a human problem.”

He acknowledged that “this right goes against any religion or belief that considers God as the sole source of life.”

“I would ask practitioners of any faith to respect individual decisions in this area and not to interfere,” said the prolific director, whose films in recent years have dealt with themes of death and physical decline.

The president of the jury, French actress Isabelle Huppert, said the film tackled important issues in a thoughtful way and without melodrama. She also paid tribute to the performances of the two leads.

Five years ago, Almodovar was honored by Venice with a prize for his career.

“My heart is broken”

Kidman won the Best Actress award for her courageous performance as a CEO who has an affair with an intern in the erotic thriller “Babygirl.” However, she was unable to accept the award due to the sudden death of her mother.

“My heart is broken,” the Australian actress said in a statement read on stage on her behalf by the film’s Dutch director, Halina Reijn.

“I’m in shock and I have to go to my family. But this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me and she made me,” she said.

Kidman was praised by critics during the ten-day festival for her unapologetic performance in the sexually explicit film about female desire and power relations.

Veteran French actor Vincent Lindon won the Best Actor award for his film “The Quiet Son,” in which he plays a single father trying to prevent his teenage son from being drawn into far-right extremism.

He won over well-received performances by former Bond actor Daniel Craig in “Queer” and Adrien Brody in “The Brutalist”.

The Grand Jury Prize, which is the second in line for the Golden Lion, went to the Italian film “Vermiglio” by director Maura Delpero. This film is about the consequences of World War II for a remote mountain village.

Stars galore

The winners were among 21 candidates competing for the top prize at a festival teeming with Hollywood’s biggest talent, from Angelina Jolie to George Clooney.

The red carpet in Venice this season included Lady Gaga, who co-stars with Joaquin Phoenix in the sequel to Todd Phillips’ antihero film “Joker,” and Brad Pitt, whose action film “Wolfs” with Clooney premiered out of competition.

Jolie played the role of opera diva Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain’s “Maria”.

Films this year did not shy away from difficult subjects, whether contemporary or historical.

Abortion (“April”), white supremacy (“The Order”), the Mafia (“Sicilian Letters”) and enforced disappearances and murders during Brazil’s military dictatorship (“I’m Still Here”) were all addressed in the main competition films.

Several films have examined the war and its devastating consequences, whether they were documentaries about the war in Ukraine or the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

One of the most controversial films was “Russians at War” by Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, who went behind the lines of the war in Ukraine with Russian soldiers.

“Russian soldiers are not someone whose voice is heard,” Trofimova told reporters ahead of the screening.

However, the film sparked outrage in Ukrainian cultural and political circles because it was shot in Venice, with many viewing it as a pro-Kremlin film that sought to cover up the Russian attack.

The festival also honored American actress Sigourney Weaver and Australian director Peter Weir with lifetime achievement awards.

© 2024 AFP